Six gorgeous character homes for less than the price of a London terrace
The average cost of a terraced house in London comes in at around £650,000 – but you can find astonishingly beautiful homes for as little as half that.
Dorset – £490,000
The Old Stables is a wonderfully beautiful 1832 building that originally formed part of the Landton Long Estate, the country seat of James Farquharson, 10 minutes from Blandford Forum.
It was considerately redeveloped into separate houses thirty years ago, and has been recently refurbished again – with number 5 being a bright, lovely mews house with a huge amount of character and style.
On the ground floor there is a large reception hall, 3 double bedrooms, one with en-suite facilities, family bathroom and a traditional conservatory which gives access to the courtyard garden. A door then leads through to the communal parkland gardens.
On the market with Humberts. See more details about this property.
Suffolk – £650,000
The Captain’s House in Harwich, in North Essex, offers quite phenomenal value – or rather it did, as an offer was accepted the same morning we wrote this article. It's not hard to see why it was snapped up: an eight-bedroom Georgian house right on the waterfront for £650,000 is something hard to fathom for anyone used to London prices.
This Grade II-listed local landmark, said to be the tallest house in the town, sits right on the sea front and boasts stunning views across the harbour. It was built in 1820 by Thomas Bridge, a Harwich Packet Boat captain and Napoleonic War spy. While some updating is needed, there is a wealth of extraordinary features: two impressive 40ft high staircases, a magnificent drawing room, four original cellar rooms and a peep hole which leads through to four barrel-vaulted coal cellars.
On the market with Fenn Wright. See more details about this property.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Essex – £300,000
Right in the heart of Chelmsford's Central Conservation Area and overlooking the Cathedral, several apartments are now for sale in a building which dates back to 1591 but which has existed on its current footprint since 1875 and has just seen a significant redevelopment.
This particular flat comprises entrance hall and a circular kitchen/sitting area with tall doors opening on to the communal landscaped grounds. The kitchen and bathroom have both been in fine style – Villeroy and Boch fittings and so on – but it's the delightful location that is the main selling point.
On the market with Fenn Wright. See more details about this property.
Fife – £300,000
Sitting in an elevated position in the picturesque Fife village of West Wemyss, St Adrian's Manse is a spectacular period property with magnificent southerly views over the Firth of Forth from the Bass Rock in the east to Arthurs Seat in the west and beyond– with dolphins regularly seen in the sea during the summer months.
The house, completed in 1895, is a C listed building full of character, with three bedrooms and lovely views from almost every room.
On the market with Strutt & Parker. See more details about this property.
Cotswolds – £500,000
It may have only two bedrooms, but what John Brown's Cottage lacks in size it more than makes up for in beauty – particularly in the quite astonishing garden. Quietly situated in the hamlet of Ablington, this is a small, detached property which is Grade II Listed and sympathetically modernised – retaining leaded light windows in oak frames, shutters and exposed beams.
The sitting room has a flagstone floor and an open fireplace, with a spiral staircase rising to the first floor and the main bedroom with its beamed ceiling – beyond the bedroom a door leads to a steep ladder-style staircase to a small attic that serves as an occasional second bedroom.
The garden, as these pictures show, is a true delight, landscaped into a series of compartments, and including a wild area with a pond and a parterre-style vegetable garden enclosed by stone walls.
On the market with Knight Frank. See more details about this property.
Gloucestershire – £385,000
Graziers Cottage is classic Cotswold stone house with beamed ceilings, flagstone and tiled floors and an inglenook fireplace in the sitting room. It's a two-bedroom cottage that would be ideal both as a main residence or a second home.
The cottage is located in the hamlet of Ford – which has an excellent pub called The Plough – and is about 7 miles east of Stow on the Wold.
On the market with Hayman-Joyce. See more details about this property.
Credit: The Old Rectory, Twineham - Strutt & Parker
An utterly beautiful Sussex home that's grand, light and within easy reach of London
City dwellers looking to get away from the metropolis and out in the country will be enchanted by this home
The extraordinary country house where the Mr Men books were written
This fabulous place is far more than just a wonderful 16th century house – it's an 200-acre estate with woodland, riding
18 magnificent houses, as seen in the pages of Country Life
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by His Majesty The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
Get ready to get spooky in the Halloween edition of the Country Life Quiz of the Day, October 31, 2025Ghosts, ghouls and ghastly questions lurk in today's quivering quiz.
By Country Life Published
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
May the force be with you if you move into this London apartment block that Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Cher) once lived inOliver’s Wharf was once the residence of megastar Cher and the actor Sir Alec Guinness — as well as Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
125 glorious acres of Elizabethan elegance for sale in Cheshire that comes with a moatIs this real life? Is it just fantasy? No, it's Holford Hall.
By Annabel Dixon Published
-
Look around this James Bond-themed house for sale in Nottinghamshire and release your inner MI6 agentNow, come, come dear reader, you get as much fulfilment out of Skyfall as I do, so why don't you admit it?
By James Fisher Published
-
The eclectic New York townhouse that Lily Allen sings about in her new, headline-making album is for sale381, Union Street is on the market just days after the singer’s latest album details the alleged infidelity in her marriage.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
This Suffolk home is a perfect escape from the world and it comes with its own stretch of river and 20 acresThis idyllic home in Suffolk is the perfect village home.
By Julie Harding Published
-
The quaint Alpine village that got taken over by The BeatlesThe Beatles visited the Austrian resort of Obertauern to film their 1965 film Help!. Despite a distinct lack of prowess on the slopes, the Fab Four got by with a little help from some new-found friends, discovers Russell Higham.
By Russell Higham Published
-
The ultimate treehouse escape, where you can have a sauna and hot tub 12 metres above the forest floor, is for sale in DorsetGuy Mallinson's award-winning treehouses in Dorset are a true escape from the world. Anna White takes a look.
By Anna White Published
