Trading up, trading down – in pictures

Trading up: Suffolk. A 23ft living room and a master bedroom with a soaring vaulted ceiling give this candy-pink confection in the village of Rickinghall an unexpectedly palatial air. It’s as well that the kitchen is large enough for a dining table, otherwise you’d need a hostess trolley to transport a family dinner the length of the hall to the glossy-floored dining room. The study opens on to an inner courtyard and three of the four bedrooms are doubles. While the original quaint features are timeless, the more recent fittings are dated. On the market for £385,000.
Jackson Stops & Staff, 01284 700535 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff

Trading up: Argyll. From the two front bays of this £385,000 five-bed house you can watch the sun set over Campbeltown Loch and the Isle of Arran. Recently renovated, there is a manorial stateliness about the wood-panelling and wall-to-floor windows in the dining room, the four-oven Aga beneath an elegant mantel, the walk-in wine cupboard, the 0.4 acre of gardens, and the enormity of the rooms. A games room and study occupy the second floor, which could be turned into a self-contained exile for teenagers. The royal burgh of Campbeltown sits prettily on the tip of the Kintyre peninsula with a natural harbour and, nearby, a championship golf course.
Smiths Gore, 0131 344 0881 Photograph: Smiths Gore

Trading down: Plymouth. The Beatles and Laurel and Hardy once stayed here, and former PM Gladstone gave a speech from a balcony of this ex-hotel perched on green slopes on the seafront. Today, a two-bed berth in The Grand, which once claimed the “finest position in Europe”, costs £249,950. This is a bit more than the Beatles paid for their suite, perhaps, but the fee funds a 999-year stay. You need to be richer to enjoy the spectacular sea views residents at the front of the building have, but your Juliet balcony allows you to gaze over the city and the coastal walks start outside the main entrance. There are high ceilings and a large living area. Impeccable sleeping habits are preferred, since one of the bedrooms is on an exposed mezzanine.
Jackson Stops & Staff, 01392 214222 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff

Trading down: Sussex. This 15th-century cottage in the conservation hamlet of North Bersted was once used as a coroners’ court. Inside is as quirky as out, with exposed flint and a bedlam of beams on the walls. There’s an 18ft-breakfast room off the kitchen and gardens front and back, but the quaintness could be a literal headache for statuesque buyers, since the ceilings are low and slope in both the eaves bedrooms. It is tranquilly sited on a no-through lane among similarly good looking neighbours, and is just two miles from the beaches of Bognor Regis. Cost: £275,000.
Jackson Stops & Staff, 01243 786316 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff

Bargain of the week: Northumberland. Reduced from £300,000 to £250,000, this five-bedder has sweeping views of the countryside to the front and classy fittings, including solid wood floors. The developer of the estate of four new builds and three conversions on a former farm bagged this one for himself, but now needs a quick sale. French doors open from the sitting room, and the open-plan kitchen/diner/conservatory opens on to the garden. All the bedrooms are doubles, one of which is en suite, and there’s also an integral garage. The neighbouring village of Foulden offers company but no services, so you’ll have to get the car out for a pint of milk.
Smiths Gore, 01289 333030 Photograph: Smiths Gore