Trading up, trading down – in pictures

Trading up: Dorset. The desirability of gated developments is debatable, but if you’re happy to shut yourself away from the rest of the village of Henlade, near Taunton, you can sample a millionaire’s lifestyle for a £299,950 asking price. These nine swish homes share communal gardens and tennis courts, as well as having their own private courtyards, and further greenery is provided by the pastoral views. The downstairs rooms are floored with oak, food is prepared on granite worktops, and the two upstairs bedrooms are en suite. Not everyone will appreciate the quirk that the other two bedrooms are on the ground floor.
Chesterton Humberts, 01823 288484 Photograph: Chesterton Humberts

Trading up: Kent. Don’t be frightened by that sulphurous yellow woodwork: this three-bed house has roses round the door, views of grazing cattle and a well in the garden which used to supply the village of Finglesham. The garden is a capacious glory, front and back, with a fish pond, groves of ornamental trees and a herb garden. The rustic stereotypes continue inside in the form of thickly beamed ceilings and a stone fireplace. A fourth bedroom has been turned into a king-sized jack-and-jill bathroom and could be reclaimed if you don’t mind queues for the other facility. It’s all neat and tidy and instantly habitable, but newcomers may wish to refine the vintage 80s decor. Cost: £325,000.
Bright & Bright, 01304 374071 Photograph: Bright & Bright

Trading down: Surrey. Woking’s mainline train services, a couple of miles from the village of Knaphill, will convey you swiftly to the capital from your pleasant berth. £279,950 buys you the right-hand half of this Victorian villa, plus a graceful garnishing of original features. A kitchen-breakfast room leads off the reception room and on to a small back garden, at the end of which is a studio, and both upstairs bedrooms are doubles. Tenants, paying £1,075 a month, are contracted until May.
Townends, 01483 756262 Photograph: Townends

Trading down: East Yorkshire. Small and humble it may look from the front, but elegant surprises unfold inside. This two-bed cottage overlooking the village green in Egton, near Whitby in the North York Moors, has been handsomely redesigned, exposing a sandstone wall, flagstoned floor and dramatic roof apex in the bespoke dining kitchen, adding a multi-fuel stove and fitted shelves to the sitting room hearth, and installing a freestanding slipper bath and wood panelling to the bathroom. There are views to the moors from the back garden, though its position opposite the village inn might or might not be deemed an advantage. Yours for £249,950.
Smiths Gore, 01904 756303 Photograph: Smiths Gore

Dream home: Rosshire. Built four years ago on the shore of Glenelg village, this £250,000 two-bed house looks over the sea to Skye. A sliding glass door leads into a flagstoned floor with a designer metal staircase rising out of it, and an atrium absorbs every available ray of sunlight. This is urban glamour in a wild setting: the ground floor is open-plan and lavishly glassed, a wet room services the occupants of the master bedroom, the bathroom is lined with limestone, and the floors are of engineered wood or stone. Solitude seekers will resent the fact that, despite all this empty scenery, you’re cheek by jowl with a neighbour.
Strutt & Parker, 01463 719171 Photograph: Strutt & Parker