Snooping around: Rural, urban or renovation

Wreck of the week: Powys. For £350,000 you get this four-bed farmhouse plus outbuildings in Carno, Caersws. It is, however, unsafe and needs a new roof and some ceilings – budget for £100,000-plus. Oddly, two bedrooms are reached by a separate staircase from the other two and the bathroom. It comes with planning permission to convert the barns into dwellings and has a fabulous setting within 14 acres.
Norman Lloyd, 01686 413209 Photograph: Norman Lloyd

In the country: North Yorkshire. You need never leave your four-bedroom dales long-house in Newbiggin, near Leyburn, for you can run your own business from the outbuildings. It has glorious views, large, beautifully adorned rooms and an acre of garden. Beware that the two-bed annexe needs renovating. Cost: £497,500.
George F. White, 01677 425301 Photograph: George F. White

In town: Kent. This four-bedder offers palatial living with views over the UK’s only royal harbour in Ramsgate. There are three receptions with sea views, a breakfasting kitchen and self-contained bedsit. It’s a shame the garden is only a compact courtyard. Yours for £479,999.
Chesterton Humberts, 01227 452780
Photograph: Chesterton Humberts

Overseas: Italy. The price tag on this five-bedder in Calcinaia, near Anghiari in Tuscany, is a pretty hefty €1.9m, but following the completion of restoration work in 2007 it includes a second house with four bedrooms designed for holiday rentals. A third building is used as a music room and recording studiom while a fourth is a pottery workshop which could easily be converted into a one- or two-bed house. The whole is set in 1.65 hectares overlooking Lake Montedoglio, and includes a large swimming pool.
Cluttons Italy, 00 39 075 845 0100 Photograph: Cluttons Italy

Dream home: Barbados. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Simon Cowell, Michael Winner, Cliff Richard and Cilla Black (all regular visitors to the west coast of Barbados) might not be everyone’s idea of a dream, but imagine sunbathing on the balcony of this sumptious five-bed villa before sliding into the enormous swimming pool or pottering through the garden gate on to the beach and into the Caribbean Sea for a dip with hawksbill and leatherback turtles. The villa’s positon on the prestigious Sandy Lane beachfront explains the $16m price tag – it is within spitting distance of the Sandy Lane hotel and golf course.
Cluttons Barbados, 00 1246 432 4663 Photograph: Cluttons Barbados