Snooping around: Rural, urban or renovation

Wreck of the week: Eglingham, near Alnwick, Northumberland. This is a stone cowshed in the middle of nowhere. It's in sound condition if you're bovine, otherwise you'll need £125,000 to make it habitable; planners have sanctioned a three-bed bungalow hewn out of the original structure. It is five miles from the nearest shop. Yours for £185,000.
George F White, 01665 603231 Photograph: George F White/George F White

In town: Tunbridge Wells, Kent. This place is urban, but you can easily forget that on the saunter to the elegant shops of the Pantiles. As well as two bedrooms it has large rooms with oak floors and beams, a hospitable fireplace and a gothic conservatory. Outside is a courtyard. Cost: £365,000.
Batcheller Thacker, 01892 512020 Photograph: Batcheller Thacker/Batcheller Thacker

In the country: Powerstock, Dorset. The inner glories of this £485,000 three-bedder match the pretty village location. Quarry tiling spreads across the kitchen and breakfast room, a wood-burning stove warms one of the two reception rooms, and two of the three bedrooms are vaulted. A traditional stone wall encloses a pretty cottage-style garden and there is a garage and a log store too. It's a shame there's no buffer between the front door and the lane.
Jackson Stops & Staff, 01305 262123 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff/Jackson Stops & Staff

Dream home: East Sussex. This grade II-listed house is extensive in every way – rooms, views, gardens, space. There are four beds – a fifth if you snub the option of a study – a dining room and drawing room (with inglenooks), a sitting room and a kitchen/breakfast room, most of which are framed by honey timbers. In your two-and-half-acres is a kitchen garden, greenhouse, a rolling lawn, ornamental ponds and a wild flower garden. Yours for £1.3m.
Strutt & Parker, 01273 475411 Photograph: Strutt & Parker/Strutt & Parker