Trading up, trading down

Trading up: Northumberland. Once the presbytery in the village of Thropton, this four-bedder adjoins one of the county's oldest Roman catholic churches. Priests were once wont to live spaciously, so your £475,000 stretches to three receptions, a study with cerebrally nourishing views, a pantry, and store rooms off the breakfasting kitchen. You’ll want to budget for a little cosmetic refreshment, but consider this: if it were fashionably spruced it would be nearer £600,000. Strutt and Parker , 01670 516123 Photograph: Strutt and Parker Photograph: guardian.co.uk Trading up: County Durham. An aristocratic income is not necessarily required if you want to own a shooting lodge. This listed four-bed option will accommodate an expanding family for £250,000. Rural and urban life meld nicely: you cross a working farmyard to reach it, but on the plus side you are only three miles from Barnard Castle. Inside, vintage charms – stone staircases, beams, panelling and an inglenook fireplace – are intact, but the whole could do with an upgrade. George F White , 01833 690390 Photograph: George F White Photograph: guardian.co.uk Trading down: Wiltshire. Above the door is the inscription 'Diana, her hous [sic] 1600'. It served as the gatehouse to Amesbury Abbey, which is now a nursing home, while this flint tower on the banks of the Avon makes for a bewitchingly bonkers one-bed house for anyone over 55 with £180,000. The sleeping quarters are reached by a circular stone stairway. Downstairs, life is unexpectedly spacious with two receptions and a decent-sized kitchen. You get your own private lawn, fishing rights on the river and the run of the abbey grounds. Jackson Stops & Staff , 01962 844299 Photograph: Jackson Stops & Staff Photograph: guardian.co.uk Trading down: London. This is an agreeable way to gain the best of the capital. It is a stylish two-bed maisonette in an Edwardian villa in Wood Green with its own south-facing garden and a zone 3 tube station a short walk away. There are wooden floors, a couple of fireplaces and bright white walls and kitchen fittings. There is no onward chain. Cost: £250,000. Winkworth , 020 8800 5151 Photograph: Winkworth Photograph: guardian.co.uk Dream home: Cornwall. You couldn’t get much closer to the water without requiring swimwear. The house is currently divided into two – a one- and a two-bed self-contained apartments – and is perched on the harbour in Mevagissey. Planners would probably let you reunite the rooms into a single residence, or you could continue to let the flats to holidaymakers. Furnishing and equipment is available by negotiation so you could pick up the business where the owners left off. Yours for £345,000. Waterfront and Country Homes , 01872 273473 Photograph: Waterfront and Country Homes Photograph: guardian.co.uk