Trading up, trading down

Trading up: Devon. Once a farmhouse near Axminster, this five-bedder’s vintage charms have earned it a grade II-listing. For £445,000 it will effortlessly absorb family and extras. The flagstoned boot room, with boiler, is larger than the average kitchen, while the actual kitchen is swelled by a walk-in pantry and utility room. There are two grand reception rooms plus a quantity of fireplaces and original plasterwork. It’s a short drive to the coast.
Palmer Snell, 01297 35244 Photograph: Palmer Snell/Palmer Snell

Trading up: Suffolk. Shed that city flat and, for £395,000, spread yourself out among seven bedrooms close to the centre of Ipswich. French doors open the dining room out on to a walled garden where you can sunbathe concealed from the neighbours. The kitchen/breakfast room is more than 20ft long and there are exposed wooden floors and fireplaces throughout. The large green expanses of Christchurch Park are a few minutes walk away.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01473 218218 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff

Trading down: London. Retire rustically without leaving the capital. Beyond the white picket fence of this £399,950 two-bed cottage is St Margaret’s “village” with its butcher, cheese shop and other quaint necessities. Inside it’s glossily presented with a wood-floored sitting room and a 27ft kitchen-cum-family room opening on to an unexpected amount of garden. It’s a 10-minute walk to Richmond and mainline rail services to London Waterloo.
Chase Buchanan, 020 8744 2434 Photograph: Chase Buchanan/Chase Buchanan

Trading down: Dorset. This 16th-century cottage near Blandford has been in the same ownership for over 50 years. Downsizers should set aside £30,000-£40,000 of their equity for cosmetic surgery (the thatch has been redone) and their reward will be two bedrooms, a sitting room, a study, a kitchen/breakfast room and a wealth of beams. Basic amenities are a walk away in the village of Winterborne Stickland and it’s half an hour to the coast. Cost: £210,000.
Humberts, 01258 452343 Photograph: Humberts/Humberts

Dream home: Cumbria. While cooking in this three-bedroom Lakeland cottage you can gaze through stone mullioned kitchen windows to the flanks of the Blencathra mountains. Thought to have once been a 17th-century farmstead, it borders Troutbeck Moor seven miles from Keswick with spectacular walks from the door and two acres of its own land. There is potentially room to expand into the stone outbuildings. Cost: £385,000.
Penrith Famers’ & Kidds, 01768 862135 Photograph: Penrith Famers’ & Kidds/Penrith Famers’ & Kidds

Bargain of the week: Shropshire. Haul this mid-terraced cottage a short distance into the centre of Ludlow and you’d need to be £100,000 richer to buy it. However, its position opposite Tesco secures you four beds, two bathrooms, two receptions and a conservatory in one of Shropshire’s most handsome towns for £220,000. The rooms are decently sized and tastefully turned out with wooden floors, an original built-in dresser and striking corner fireplaces.
McCartneys, 01584 872153 Photograph: McCartneys/McCartneys