The Property Equation: what will £425,000 buy?

If you want vroom with a view, a marriage of loft and garage in Chelsea could be the answer to your dreams. However, if you want peace rather than action, Rosalind Russell has tracked down four rural properties for the same price

Some people might think that it is not a great deal for the money. And it is hardly a thing of beauty. To be brutally honest, it looks like a garage with a loft extension, which it is. And it is in need of modernisation.

Some people might think that it is not a great deal for the money. And it is hardly a thing of beauty. To be brutally honest, it looks like a garage with a loft extension, which it is. And it is in need of modernisation.

But the address is in Chelsea, one of London's more fashionable quarters, located in Camera Place, a short street connecting Park Walk with Limerston Street, SW10. The house – squashed between two taller buildings – is reached via the garage, or from another door on a side wall. A door from the garage leads into the kitchen which has Formica work surfaces, fitted bookshelves, Zanussi appliances and a housemaid's cupboard.

Although as there's only one bedroom, bathroom and first-floor sitting room, it hardly seems necessary to employ a housemaid. Mind you it wouldn't be a bad spot for a chauffeur. There are 99 years left on the lease and the price is £425,000. Details from John D Wood, on 0207 352 1484.

But for exactly the same money you could buy...

Bryn Gerllig, a small country house, or, if you prefer, a large country cottage, which is sited in almost six acres of grounds in the Vale of Clwyd, in Denbighshire, Wales. Restored and extended, the building has a 21ft kitchen with Corian sink, maple units and flagged floor, study, sitting room and three bedrooms, all with en suite bathrooms. There are stables and loose boxes, hree-bay barn, orchard, five paddocks and single-bank fishing rights on the River Clwyd. For more details call the agents, Strutt & Parker, on 01244 220500.

Not to mention...

A converted chapel located near Ivybridge in the South Hams, Devon – just a ramble from Dartmoor. The Old Chapel was a Victorian Methodist property, now converted into a four-bedroom, two bathroom home. The old chapel has a large reception hall featuring wood strip flooring, snug, study and a 21ft kitchen/breakfast room. The dining room is almost as big, with fireplace and multi-fuel burner, and there's a first-floor drawing room with exposed stone walls and arched windows. Double garage, workshop and gardens. Call Fulfords, on 01752 894 253.

Or what about...

Bellows Cottage a thatched, three-bedroom, two sitting-room, Grade II-listed white cottage in Shalford, three miles from Braintree, in the heart of rural Essex. The timber-framed cottage has beamed ceilings, a modern kitchen with limed oak units and an up-to-date bathroom with corner bath and fitted heated towel rail. There are views over open fields from the main bedroom which has an exposed brick chimney breast and fitted cupboards. There's a single garage and planning permission for another one. For sale at through Tremath Welch; call the agents on 01371 872117.

Or even...

Dandy Hall a four-bedroom period house located six miles from Stowmarket in Suffolk. At the edge of a village. The building sits in gardens othat cover half an acre. A galleried landing overlooks a vaulted reception hall; there are three reception rooms and a custom-made kitchen with Belfast sink, light oak units and Britannia cooking range. The main bedroom has views across the garden. There is a double garage and a wooden store, for use as a playroom or office. The gardens include a pond. The property is for sale through Jackson-Stops & Staff – call 01473 218218.