Trading up, trading down

Trading up: Norfolk. The village of Castle Acre has its own copious seductions – priory and castle ruins, a green and a river – and this three-bedder is a suitably fetching perch within it. It's been Farrow and Balled inside and out, and has exposed wooden floors in the two receptions. There is also a regally-sized kitchen/breakfast room, a cellar and a large walled cottage garden with a barn that could be converted. Yours for £430,000.
Belton Duffy, 01328 710666 Photograph: Belton Duffy/Belton Duffy

Trading up: Devon. You could reclaim the dressing room as a fourth bedroom if you removed the fitted cupboards. The rest of this £290,000 semi near Plymouth is smart, bright and roomy. The sitting room has windows front and back, two fireplaces and a door on to the large garden. From the main bedroom there are views over the village of Horrabridge and surrounding farmland. It's a short drive to the coast.
Marchand Petit, 01752 873311 Photograph: Marchand Petit/Marchand Petit

Trading down: Essex. You can retain the city job and return to rustic contentment – this £285,000 two-bed cottage in Writtle is close to Chelmsford with its rapid rail links to London. The place has been thoroughly renovated to leave a smart kitchen/breakfast room, a Victorian-style bathroom and solid oak flooring across the ground floor. There's a decent sized garden out back and allotments form the view to the front.
John D Wood, 01245 344 222 Photograph: John D Wood/John D Wood

Trading down: Northumberland. This three-bed barn conversion is an indulgent way to reduce your space. For an annual fee you can use the on-site leisure complex (including indoor pool and gym), the gardens are communal so someone else does the mowing, and the house has been glamorised with a beamed, open-plan living area warmed by a multi-fuel stove upstairs. Views to the Cheviot hills spread before you. Cost: £250,000.
George F. White, 01665 603231 Photograph: George F. White/George F. White

Dream home: Wiltshire. Glory inside and out. From the front windows you look over an ancient stone bridge spanning a river with hills behind; inside it is beamed and inglenooked with a kitchen large enough for family festivities and two receptions. The gardens are large and joyfully floriferous. It is a brief and winsome walk from this hamlet into the medieval National Trust village of Lacock. The biggest bedroom leads off the third one. Cost: £395,000.
Carter Jonas, 01249 706000 Photograph: Carter Jonas/Carter Jonas