Houses for sale for around £500,000
From a 17th-century, timber-framed house in Staffordshire, to a house with a post office, shop and licensed tea room in a prime tourist area close to Loch Ness, eight of the best houses on the market for around £500,000
Cleveland Bridge House, Bath. A three-storey, 1820s property originally built as a toll house for Cleveland Bridge, which enabled horse-drawn vehicles to access the city. It has exposed stone walls, sash windows, wood floors and a riverside patio. 2 beds, 2 baths, recep, breakfast kitchen. £550.000 Winkworth 01225-829000.
Condom, Gers, Midi-Pyrenees, France. A 19th-century chateau in the Gascon countryside. It has beamed ceilings and marble fireplaces, and comes with a separate cottage in the grounds. 5 beds, 2 dressing rooms, 6 baths, 3 receps, conservatory, swimming pool, gardens, parkland, 4.32 acres. £595,234 Knight Frank 020-7861 1139.
Merchants House, Edingale Village, Tamworth, Staffordshire. A restored, Grade II-listed, 17th-century timber-framed house on a quiet lane in a village. The property retains its original solid-oak front door, exposed beams, wattle and daub panels, inglenook fireplaces and has a Victorian range in the snug. 2 beds, bath, 2 receps, dining kitchen, garden and courtyard. £500,000+ Fine & Country 0121-272 6900.
Ambleside Avenue, London SW16. A garden apartment in a period property in South West London, close to Streatham mainline station and Tooting Bec Common. The flat retains its original tiles in the kitchen and has French doors in the sitting room that open onto a 30ft-long, west-facing garden with a decked area that is ideal for al-fresco dining. 2 beds, bath. £550,000 Savills 020-8673 4111.
Hardy’s Cottage, Purse Caundle, Sherborne, Dorset. This 17th-century, Grade II-listed, thatched stone cottage may originally have been built as a pair of cottages. It is situated on the edge of a village with views across open countryside and retains its original exposed ceiling beams and timbers, plank and muntin panelling, window seats with deep sills and inglenook fireplaces. 2 beds, 2 baths, 2 receps, breakfast kitchen, study, garden. £475,000 Jackson-Stops 01935-810141.
Drumnadrochit Post Office and Store, Drumnadrochit, Inverness. A traditional house with a post office, shop and licensed tea room in a prime tourist area close to Loch Ness. 4 beds, 2 baths, recep, conservatory, study, breakfast kitchen, ice-cream shed, gardens. £550,000+.Strutt & Parker 01463 723593.
Eastdown Cottage, Eastdown, Blackawton, Totnes, Devon. A modernised, Grade II-listed period property in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with far-reaching views over the surrounding countryside. It has beamed ceilings, slate floors, deep recessed windows, inglenook fireplaces with wood-burning stoves and a large enclosed garden. 3 beds, bath, 2 receps, garage, parking. £550,000 Marchand Petit 01803-839190.
The Old Vicarage, Otterburn, Northumberland. A renovated, Grade II-listed former vicarage in the centre of a village in the upland valley of Redesdale in the Cheviot Hills. The house comes with an attached one-bedroom annex. It has double-height sash bay windows, a country kitchen with a dual-fuel range, and retains its moulded plaster cornices, wood floors and cast-iron fireplaces. 4 beds, bath, 2 receps, study, cellar, shed, gardens. £545,000 Finest Properties 01434-622234.