Snooping around: Rural idylls

Take three: rural idylls. This three-bedder near Manaccan, Cornwall, guards the head of Carne Creek and is surrounded by National Trust woodland in an area of outstanding natural beauty. You can watch the tide from most windows and launch a boat from a private quay. Inside are two receptions, a kitchen and two bathrooms. A slate floor links the dining room to the oak-fitted kitchen. When the tide is out the view is of mudflats. Cost: £550,000.
Savills, 01872 243200 Photograph: Savills/Savills

Take three: rural idylls. Built in 1690 as a woollen mill, this stone cottage sits in a third of an acre of wooded grounds near Caernarfon, Gwynedd. For £305,000 you get a reception, a kitchen/breakfast room, a conservatory, three bedrooms and a bathroom. The rooms are beamed and trussed, and the sitting room has a stripped pine floor and multi-fuel burner. All the bedrooms are doubles with knee-high windows. The whole place is heavily shaded.
Evans Bros, 01545 570462 Photograph: Evans Bros/Evans Bros

Take three: rural idylls. This four-bedder in County Durham once housed the manager of a mineral mine, the tunnel to which still exists in the 2.72 acre grounds. Warm water spews from here and over a water wheel and waterfall. There is also a croquet lawn, woodland and orchard. Indoors the £595,000 price tag gets you three receptions, a conservatory, two kitchens and three bath/shower rooms. It’s a hefty 30 minute drive for the weekly shop.
George F White & Co, 01388 527966 Photograph: George F White & Co/George F White & Co

Renovation job. Tenders from £250,000-£350,000 are invited on this four-bedroom cottage near Ilfracombe, Devon, by April 28. It needs gutting from the thatch down, but there is potential to extend subject to planning - upwards of £150,000 should sort the structure and fittings. The floors are flagstoned, the fireplaces intact and damp pools authentically on the walls. It crouches in wild, woody grounds, a stroll from the pub and a rocky bay.
Jackson Stops & Staff, 01271 377833 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff/Jackson Stops & Staff