Three big Scottish manses near the sea

It's just started to snow as I type this. Flimsy flakes drifting down, replacing the morning's ice-cold drizzle. Let's go to Scotland.
This handsome manse is one of two I've picked out from the Church of Scotland's property listing. They may be on the pricier side to my usual renovation picks, but the size of the properties and their west coast locations make them beautiful bargains.
The Manse at Appin, above and below, is on the Argyll coast between Oban and Fort William. It's Grade C listed, with lovely big rooms and lots of period details.

Four bedrooms plus bathroom upstairs; two reception rooms, kitchen and utility downstairs, plus a third room and shower room as potential granny flat or guest suite.

There are gardens on all sides, plus garage and parking - and those gorgeous open views.

On the market at offers over £320k. Details and more pictures here and here and pdf here.
My second manse pick is in an equally lovely location on the Isle of Gigha, off the Kintyre penisula. I'm a massive fan of this whole area of Scotland, Local Hero is one of my favourite films (an annual family Christmas watch) and regular readers will already know how much I love Mull.
And I love the concept of an island owned by its residents.

The manse is just outside Ardminish, Gigha's village and ferry port. On a smaller plot of land compared to the manse at Appin, and with more renovation to do (and fewer connected services), but none-the-less a big, handsome building in a gorgeous bit of Britain.

Five bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper floors; two reception rooms and large kitchen downstairs.

On the market through Church of Scotland property at offers over £265k. Details and more pictures here and here and pdf here.
My third pick is a former manse, built in the 1820s and owned by the same family since 1943.

Situated close to breathtaking Clachan Sands on North Uist, it's the most remote of my choices - and also the cheapest.

The Manse at Trumisgarry Glebe makes up for its remote and rather windswept-looking location with possibly the liveliest approach to pattern matching I've seen.
Definitely an old-lady gone house but a lady I would have loved to have met!

Set in large gardens, The Manse has three bedrooms upstairs, a downstairs bathroom and downstairs shower room, plus two large reception rooms, kitchen, hall and storerooms. The layout's a bit higgledy piggedley but lots of potential.

On the market through Skye Property Centre at offers over £140k. Details and more pictures here.

Three big family homes to renovate

Bit of a treat for my Midlander, or would-be Midland, readers today with three handsome homes worth renovating.
First this very lovely village home in Lincolnshire. The three/four-bedroom home has had some work done, the pictures show bits of plastering, electrics and some aspirational room naming (below, for example, is the "bathroom").

Built in the 1830s, it's in Woolsthorpe by Colsterworth (home of Woolsthorpe Manor, Isaac Newton's birthplace) - a couple of  miles from Colsterworth village and around eight miles from both Grantham and Stamford.

Downstairs there are three halls (!), a sitting room, dining room, kitchen, utility and snug. Upstairs are three bedrooms, a described as an en-suite shower room (but without a shower, or plumbing as far as I can tell...), and that bathroom. I suspect the room designations will come down to you.
Outside is a large garden, gated drive and good-size brick workshop.

On the market through Murray's at £275k. Details and more pictures here and here.
Rather grander - and rather more rural utilitarian than village cutesy - is this farmhouse with buildings at Algarkirk, about six miles from Boston.

The four-bed detached house has two large reception rooms, kitchen, big pantry and store downstairs (plus an ugly conservatory and sun room); four bedrooms and a bathroom bigger than some London flats upstairs. All the rooms, it should be said, are on the large side.

So bags of space for a growing family, but it's the outside stuff that offers most potential. An enormous barn (roughly 60ft square), strings of greenhouses (we are in the salad-growing heart of the UK), double-height outbuildings, stables, and over an acre of land.

Lots of smallholding/gardening business/self-sufficiency options. However, the price reflects that potential (if not the renovation work) at offers over £395k.
On the market through Pygott and Crone. Details and more pictures here and here.
Finally, this detached house in Leicester may be rather smaller but it does also come with a decent amount of space and potential for a home in a popular suburb (Glen Parva) where prices are rising.

The three-bedroom house is a good size, lovely big rooms, and sits on around half an acre of land. Note, there's an overage clause which normally means that if you sell off the land or build another property on it, you have to give back some of that profit to original seller.

There's a fair bit of renovation work to do, the pictures suggest there's been some water damage, but all the key bits are there (including central heating and double glazing) as well as some nice original features.

On the market through Your Move at just under £300k. Details and more pictures here and here.

Fancy a bigger challenge? Stately home to renovate.

You know that New Year lottery win you didn't quite manage? Well, if you had won a few £million, this is exactly the sort of wreck to spend it on.
Wetley Abbey is a beautiful Grade II-listed property, with an extra wing, four acres (possibility of buying more) and a posh bungalow to live in while you work on the main house.

Despite the period details and look, it's comparatively youthful - built in the 1820s and home to the Mason family of Staffordshire's master potters, with a large wing extension added in the 1900s.
The current owners have done some remedial works, in particular to make the building watertight, and acquired a bunch of planning permissions, but there's clearly masses more to do.

 

There are lots of rooms, including half-a-dozen or so bedrooms and a similar number of reception rooms. No bathrooms yet and a kitchen space rather than a kitchen (no mention of utilities or drainage either, although it does look like there may be electricity to areas). The approved plans make suggestions but it's fair to say that the actuality will be down to you.
It's been on the market well over a year, its owners having moved abroad, and the price has dropped several times. Indeed, at £995k, it's now for sale at £25k less than it was bought for in 2005.

Realistically, this isn't a house you do-up and live in, unless you have a particularly large family. But it is a property with live/work potential. The location, in Staffordshire's moorlands, coupled with that large side wing, offers options for holiday lettings, B&B and weddings.

As I said, we're talking lottery win rather than realistic do-up option for my Wreck readers (thanks by the way to reader Erica for tipping me off about Wetley Abbey) but this is a place that needs vision and that, if not cash, is something we have buckets of.
On the market through Purple Bricks at £995k. Details and more pictures here and here.