Trading up, trading down – in pictures

Trading up: Shropshire. Its 400-year history is instantly visible in the timber-striped walls and ceilings, the stone fireplace and the wood-panelled wall in the sitting room. It is folded into the hills in the hamlet of Strefford, near Ludlow, with surrounding landscaped gardens and a garage. If three bedrooms cramp your style you could hijack the study. Since the house has been in the same ownership for 48 years the fashion conscious may wish to update some of the fittings. Yours for £335,000.
Strutt & Parker, 01584 873711
Photograph: Struttandparker.com

Trading down: Rutland. The Jacobean Stocken Hall near Oakham was rescued from dereliction and divided into 11 apartments 10 years ago. This ground-floor segment is named after the horse Copenhagen, which was bred here in the original stables and became the Duke of Wellington’s charger in the Battle of Waterloo. The 18th-century double doors admit you from the communal grounds into your own private vaulted hall. There’s a grandly proportioned sitting room, three bedrooms and a recently glamorised kitchen, and a garden shed is reserved for your use. Brace yourself for a hefty annual service charge to maintain the estate, on top of the £265,000 asking price.
Smiths Gore, 01780 484696
Photograph: Smithsgore

Trading up: Gloucestershire. It looks grander than it is: you’ll have to confine your expansion to three fairly compact double bedrooms, one long, slender reception, and a galley kitchen, albeit in black lacquer. But £325,000 buys handsome living in the perfect Cotswold village of Painswick, surrounded by an area of outstanding natural beauty. The secluded garden is walled with Cotswold stone and there’s an adjoining stone workshop.
Hamptons, 01452 812354
Photograph: Hamptons

Trading down: County Durham. Castellated pomp for £185,000. Admittedly the pomp is small scale – there’s only one bedroom in this terraced cottage in Hunworth Place, near Darlington – but it continues inside in the form of elegantly panelled doors and wide sash windows, period cornicing and a fireplace. The two receptions have been knocked through to form an elongated living room opening on to a conservatory, and a utility room supplements the kitchen. Frustratingly, the sweeping gardens it overlooks belong to a neighbour – you must content yourself with a small rear courtyard and walks along the nearby river.
Smiths Gore, 01325 370500
Photograph: Smithsgore

Dream home: Cornwall. Folk pay a fortune to holiday beside this view across the Fowey estuary on this pretty stretch of coast. If, in your dream, you could muster £499,000 you could look at it every time you sat at your breakfast table in your big bay window. The house perches high above the village of Polruan, a ferry hop from Fowey, with large gardens tumbling down towards the quay and a panoramic terrace. There are three bedrooms and two receptions, well garnished with period features, and a garage lies up the gated path on the lane.
Knight Frank, 01392 423111
Photograph: Knightfrank.com