Trading up, trading down

Trading up: Hampshire. Regal elegance, even though the décor is 30 years behind the times. The house is on the edge of Everton, a village three miles from the marina at Lymington. Two of the three receptions look out over large gardens sheltered from the outside world by mature trees. There is room for family breakfasts in the kitchen and all three bedrooms are doubles. A neighbour is discreetly attached at the back in what was probably staff accommodation. Cost: £565,000.
John D Wood, 01590 677233
Photograph: John D Wood

Trading up: Somerset. The dainty proportions will fool you. Behind those stone walls in the village of Norton St Phillip is a grandeur of space, quaint with low-slung casements, wood panelling, fireplaces and extravagantly beam-trussed ceilings. A decorative spiral staircase curls up from the study to a large studio room and three reception. There are also three double bedrooms. A whitewashed courtyard supplements the garden with its views to the hills, all for £550,000.
Winkworth, 01225 829000
Photograph: Winkworth

Trading down: Devon. Fort Picklecombe across the Sound from Plymouth was built by Lord Palmerston to defend the Devonport naval base. To appease local landowners he tried to emulate Warwick Castle with towers and castellations. It has now been divided into nine apartments, all with views out to sea and along the Devon and Cornish coastlines, and all sharing a stone terrace with aerial vistas. It backs on to the Mount Edgecumbe estate with 865 acres of country walks. A car and a pedestrian ferry will waft you across the water to the city centre. From £295,000 for two bedrooms.
Marchand Petit, 01752 873311
Photograph: Marchand Petit

Trading down: Shropshire. This £299,950 three-bedder in Shrewsbury is an agreeable way to shrink your household. It’s in the centre of the handsome town and close by its beautiful riverside park and gardens (a consolation for the fact that the house has no outside space bar a parking plot). The master bedroom has an en suite bathroom and dressing room, there’s a good-sized sitting room, and the huge dining room – currently used as a hairdressing salon – could with planning consent be turned into a glamorous kitchen/breakfast room.
Strutt & Parker, 01743 284200
Photograph: Strutt & Parker

Bargain of the week: West Sussex. Were it not for the A29, which shaves loudly close to this house, you would have to find the best part of £1m. But if you can tolerate the traffic – and most of the main rooms are peacefully at the back – you get a miniature estate: five bedrooms, a treble garage, stables, outhouses and 1.2 acres, all for £675,000. There are beams and hearths aplenty and glorious views across the gardens.
Hamptons, 01403 211766 or Browns, 01483 267070
Photograph: Hamptons or Browns