Town and country

Country retreat: Norfolk. Family life can expand elegantly into this four-bed Georgian mill house in Wicklewood. It’s been newly renovated and if the three reception rooms and large kitchen/breakfast room start to seem cramped, planning permission allows for a ground floor extension. You can admire grand sunsets from the conservatory and the large gardens, both of which have vast views over the fields towards three churches. Cost: £495,000.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01603 612333 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff

Country retreat: Powys. From the patio you can gaze down the Severn Valley to Snowdonia. In fact, there are panoramas from most windows in this £275,000 ancient, three-bed cottage near Newtown. A miniature stature is an advantage since doors tend to be tucked under low-slung timbers. On a more practical front there is a utility room, two bath/shower rooms and a garage with workshop. A paddock adjoins the garden.
McCartneys, 01686 623123 Photograph: McCartneys/McCartneys

City pad: Bristol. A community in the sky is how the developer is marketing Eminence - a cluster of 14 apartments perched on the roof of an office block. Each two-bed flat opens on to a communal decked roof garden, and inside a horizonless lifestyle is attempted with high ceilings and full-height windows, which absorb vast views over the city rooftops. The development is a short walk to the city’s new £500m shopping centre. Prices start at £295,000.
Knight Frank, 0117 943 9850 Photograph: Knight Frank/Knight Frank

City pad: London For the price of a suburban semi - £345,000 - you could gain a Knightsbridge postcode, where the world’s most expensive flat recently sold for over £80m. But this is a studio; you have to squeeze sleeping, eating and living into the 18ft by 14ft space. A uniformed porter will improve your social standing and smooth life’s passage. Keep some savings for the hefty service charges and for extending the 46-year lease.
Strutt & Parker, 020 7235 9959 Photograph: Strutt & Parker

Dream home: Dorset. This thatched fantasy tucked down a no-through lane in the village of Okeford Fitzpaine in the Dorset Downs is yours for £260,000. A surviving pub, school and post office will shield you from 21st century eyesores beyond these quaint boundaries. Inside, the kitchen is a good size and newly fitted, although the décor elsewhere could do with some refreshment. There’s a brick hearth and beams in the living room, plus three bedrooms.
Palmer Snell, 01258 453711 Photograph: Palmer Snell/Palmer Snell

Bargain of the week: Banbury. In the Cotswolds, where a two-bed cottage can cost you £400,000, it is a thrill to find four beds and two receptions for under £295,000. Little Castle is a grade II-listed ex-lodge house built by the Victorians. It’s been refurbished with wooden floors and smart fittings, but the original character remains in the fireplaces, arched mullioned windows and a hexagonal bedroom with gothic panelling. There’s no private parking.
Hayman-Joyce, 01608 651188 Photograph: Hayman-Joyce/Hayman-Joyce