Snooping around: Rural, urban or renovation

In town: Newcastle. This three-bedder is bang in the city centre. For £344,950 you get a 34ft living room, a spiral staircase to the bedrooms and two bathrooms, and there is also parking. What there isn’t is room to perch an al fresco deckchair. Sanderson Young, 0191 213 0033 Photograph: Sanderson Young In the country: Dorset. Thorough restoration has respected this cottage’s vintage looks. Located in Fontmell Magna, near Shaftesbury, its pretty gardens back on to fields. inside, an inglenook fireplace dominates the living room, while the kitchen is large enough to hold a dining table. It is a shame the bathroom is off the utility room. Cost: £320,000. Chesterton Humberts, 01747 853492 Photograph: Chesterton Humberts Wreck of the week: Devon. This £300,000 two-bed farmhouse and outbuildings near Tavistock is uninhabitable. Tar alone keeps the rain out of the roof and there are no connected utilities – £100,000-plus will groom it handsomely. But if you’re equal to the task you’ll get priceless views and more than 14 acres of Dartmoor to call your own, with another 56 available. But it is in the wilds: the nearest road is down a long track. Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01392 214222 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff Bargain of the week: County Durham. This feels like seriously wealthy living in the Durham Dales. There are five bedrooms, a roll top tub sunk into marble in the granite-trimmed bathroom, a seven-seat spa bath in the conservatory, a marble-floored bespoke fitted kitchen with an Aga set into the inglenook, views to the Wear Valley from the garden decking, and an outdoor gym cabin. All yours for £295,000 because its glamour blooms close to a council estate in the village of Frosterley. George F. White, 01388 527966 Photograph: George F. White Dream home: Wiltshire. Buried deep beneath the thatch in the village of Burbage is this two-bed grade II-listed semi-detached cottage. It is more than 500 years old with all the beams, inglenooks and latched doors that are required for rustic bliss. The reception has a wood-burning stove in its yawning brick fireplace and the heavily beamed kitchen is large enough for family dining. There is a double garage and two outbuildings beside the large, leaf-screened garden. Cost: £280,000. Carter Jonas, 01672 514916 Photograph: Carter Jonas