Two Cumbrian village homes with a twist

These two are on the pricier side compared to my usual picks, but both are big village properties with a twist, hence my showing them to you.
First, a former school plus annex in the Cumbrian village of Casterton, just outside Kirkby Lonsdale. 
The Old School has that 'stopped in time' feel to it that I love.

It also has a lovely location - posh village near enough to M6 for commuting and to national parks for wandering, and sits in good-size grounds, next to the village church and a stream.

That location, plus the size of the space - two buildings and grounds - and the planning consent to switch from school to four-bed home, all contributed to the £350k price tag.
But it's very pretty.

On the market through Dacre Son & Hartley. More details and pictures here and here.
My second pick is this Grade II listed farmhouse. As with The Old School, it's detached, stone-built, and comes with a fair bit of land. In the case of The Croft it's a chunky 1.9 acres.

The Croft is in the pretty village of Hethersgill, again with good commuting links for the M6 and plenty of gorgeous rural Cumbrian on the doorstep.
What's also almost on the doorstep is the Black Lion pub (two doors away) and, in the grounds of the house, it's own lake. My fishing-mad brother would love this house!

Lovely village setting and open views, and a good-sized house overall. Four bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, hall, living room, dining room, kitchen. study and loo downstairs.

All in need of updating and TLC but a handsome space and some lovely features.
On the market through Hayward Tod with a guide price of £269k. Details and more pictures here and here.

Welsh coastal homes with land, for auction

Couple of handsome Welsh seaside-ish properties for you today, neither are exactly wrecks but both may need rather more than a painting party.
This Welsh farmhouse with land and outbuildings is up for auction in July with a guide price of £180k-£190k.
Four bedrooms, some original features and a fair few later additions that you'll want to replace (that conservatory, for instance). But lots of space and potential.

It's just outside the Ceredigion coastal village of Llangrannog, about 10 miles from Aberaeron and the same again from Cardigan.
Downstairs are reception, wet room, lounge, sitting room, dining room, kitchen/diner, conservatory and storeroom. Three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor, and a further bedroom on the second floor.

Outside is stunning - one-and-a-half acres of paddock and gardens, plus hardstanding for cars and several stone or block-built outbuildings and stables. Definitely has 'Good Life' potential!

On the market through John Francis with a guide price of £180k. Auction date July 5th unless sold. More information and pictures here and here.
Also up for sale in that same auction is this amazing eco-house. Built in 1972 by architect Christopher Day, it's featured in several books and articles.

The original turf roof was replaced by sedum in 2003, and the house has spring-fed water and solar power.
The house has a hall, sitting room, living/dining room, kitchen and three/four bedrooms and sits in a quarter of an acre of land.

The house is at Ty Cwrdd Bach, in the hills above Pontfaen (SA65 9SJ), about 10 miles from Fishguard and the Pembrokeshire coast.
Also on the market through John Francis, with a guide price of £160-£170k. More information and pictures here.

Wordsley Manor - grand house, bargain price

Unless you've got £350k stuffed under the mattress or squirrelled away offshore, this Midlands manor house is definitely day-dream material only, because it's a cash sale.
The property was sent to me by regular reader Kit, although the Mirror picked it up too, for reasons that will be come clear.
It does need a fair bit of work, although a canny deal with a local developer means there is up to £400k of renovation money due in - more on that later too.
Whatever, £350k is a damned good price for such a damned handsome house.
Wordsley Manor, in the Black Country village of Wordsley, just outside Stourbridge, is Grade II* Listed and was built around 1757 by the Holt family. It's been owned and lived in by just two more families since the 1850s and is dripping in history. And in historical loveliness.
Here's some pictures.

The house is four storeys, cellars at the bottom, a ground floor of grand rooms (mostly OK, though windows need work and that TV plug suggests a lack of sockets at least.)
Four big bedrooms, bathrooms and dressing room on the first floor, and then there's the second floor. Oh my!

It has a cinema. And a lobby and 'box office' and a projection room and switch room. The cinema is protected (thank goodness) and I absolutely adore it. If anyone buys this house and replaces those fixtures with Joey chairs and a giant flatscreen, I will visit them from my grave!
There's also a studio and a dressing room (for the artist's model perhaps?).

Now, those 'more later' bits.
The bargain price is in large part because Wordsley Manor sits in the middle of a housing estate, having had its land sold off for development bit by tired bit.
Another development - four 14 luxury homes - has been approaved and will take away another chunk of garden.
Nearby residents fought hard, admirably hard, to stop that planning application going through.
Summarised in the planning officers's report:

The setting of the house has already been seriously compromised in the past by the progressive sale of its land for development. To sell off what remains and build more houses on it will destroy what remains of this. The manor house would be surrounding by 4 and 5 bedroom houses and would stand in the middle of a housing estate with the heritage lost. 

But things being as they've been since 2010, it's pretty difficult to stop anyone building big flash houses.
The upside is that a Section 106 order has been negotiated which means that, in being allowed to build those 14 houses, the developer has to pay towards an agreed programme of renovation on the manor house and its dilapidated wings (outlined towards the end of the report).
Despite the development, Wordsley Manor still has 1.5 acre of garden surrounding it and the main building is flanked by those two wings - formerly stables, coach house, kitchens, wash house and brewery.
On the market through Lee Shaw Partnership at £350k. Offers closing 27th June, 2017, cash buyers only. More here and here and in the pdf here.

Houses to renovate by the sea

Wee houses by the sea today. Because the sun is shining and I'm having a good week.
The house above and below is at Poppit, alongside Cardigan Bay and within the Pembrokeshire National Park.
Being serial greyhound owners, me and hubby have spent a fair few years wandering Poppit Sands with our various retired racers. It is gorgeous.
So a house that overlooks one of our favourite spaces was always going to get on my radar. And this Grade II-listed detached little house is just lovely.

Rocket House (I kid you not) has one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/diner, sitting room and hall. Lots of parking and a good-size garden area - with those amazing views.

It's up for auction on July 5th, with a guide price of £100k - £120k, via John Francis. More here and here.
This shop by the water (below) at gorgeous Sanday, Orkney, has masses of potential to become a business/home, or studio/home, or just a home with a quite amazing view.

No inside photos unfortunately, but there's five decent-sized rooms, plus bathroom and kitchen.

On the market through Lows at offers around £70k. More here.
And finally, just to show how wee we can go. Lows also has this former bicycle shop on the market, at The Hope,Orkneys.

It's detached - just - and basically three small rooms. A main room (below), rear room, and attic room. Windows have been replaced and some work has begun on it but clearly more needs doing.

It's not clear whether it has any outside space of its own, but that position right on St Margaret's Bay is the clincher. And the price - offers over £27,500.

More here and the pdf has room sizes, here.