Wreck of the Week

Today's 'wreck' picks have much in common. Both detached cottages, both three-bedrooms, both rural-ish but not isolated. And both on the market at around £220k. Hillcrest, above and below, is in the Dales village of Preston Under Scar , about eight miles from Richmond. Great views, as you might expect from its name, but still within the village and with neighbouring properties. The cottage has living room, kitchen, pantry and 'snug' downstairs, three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. There's an attached stone barn and gardens front, rear and side. On the market through Robin Jessop with a guide price of £225k. Details here and here and pdf brochure here . Larger, but rather less isolated, is the three-bed cottage below, in the Forest of Dean market town of Cinderford , Gloucestershire . Two reception rooms, kitchen, hall, and loo downstairs; three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. There's a good-size garden with outb...

This is pretty damn lovely. But also a wreck, obviously. The house is on Wern-Ddu Road, on the outskirts of Ammanford , in Carmanthenshire. It's a bit weird: part old-lady-long-gone and part-unfinished do-up. A mix of dusty ornaments and family mementos, with stripped-back walls and re-fitted windows  - sort of frozen in two different timelines. Downstairs is a handsome hall with oak staircase, three reception rooms, kitchen and pantry. Upstairs are four bedrooms and a bathroom. Most rooms have original fireplaces and period details. There's a large, neglected garden and a separate garage - plus fabulous views. With a guide price of just £100k for all that space, there must be issues. Perhaps whatever prompted the previous renovator to give up and sell? Anyhoo... I think it's gorgeous. On the market through BJP, details here and here .

This is one of those properties that starts out quite sweet. Nice look to it, good-sized rooms, detached and big garden. And then it goes all horror movie on you. Hughlings House, in the village of Nether Stowey half an hour from the M5, has five bedrooms and bathroom upstairs; hall, sitting room, library (get them!), kitchen, dining room, and loo downstairs. There's a conservatory and store attached, and gardens, garage and parking area outside and the streetview shows it sitting on a pleasant, relatively quiet, lane. So far so good. Here's the first set of pictures. And then it all gets a bit nasty. See what I mean? Doesn't look impossible to deal with on the renovation scale, at least not against some of my 'Wreck' picks, but clearly some rooms even the estate agent didn't want to enter! So here's nicer room to calm us down a bit: I love this wallpaper - anyone know whether you can still buy it? Hughlings House...