SIX TO VIEW: properties of the week

Highland cattle optional

KNOCKDHU

Lairg, Sutherland

Price: offers over pounds 165,000

Agent: Bell Ingram

Tel: 01863 766683

They say: A superb opportunity to acquire a charming two-bed croft cottage with outbuildings and about 18 acres of land. Recently modernised, the cottage is surrounded by its own fields, is a mile from the village, pub, school, shops and petrol station and is opposite the Forestry Commission's D Gunns Wood. A working croft on the Lairg Estate, it comes with a stone steading, but the Highland cattle are available only by separate negotiation. There is a kitchen with Brazilian slate floor, mains electricity and water. Broadband is due in the area soon.

We say: Legal rules on crofting should be carefully studied before throwing in a career in accounting to head for the hills.

A pastel fantasy

WATERCOLOURS

Turtleback Ridge, Barbados

Price: $2.95m

Agent: Knight Frank

Tel: 020-7629 8171

They say: Spectacular property set on the edge of a ridge in over an acre of land, with panoramic views of the west coast, taking advantage of the cooling trade winds which gently flow through the house. Built in 2001, the four-bedroom house is arranged on three levels, with a top-floor master suite. In immaculate condition and in beautifully landscaped gardens, it is one of 20 in the development. Ideal for entertaining, it has living and dining areas, large covered patio, pool deck, double garage and an exercise room.

We say: The rich person's holiday home.

Thinking big in Bucks

HICKWELL HOUSE

Claydon, Buckinghamshire

Price: pounds 825,000

Agent: Jon Drew-Smythe

Tel: 01296 658270

They say: A fine 17th-century thatch-and-tile former farmhouse in three- quarters of an acre of gardens, with views over the Vale of Aylesbury. Updated and improved, preserving the original features, it has a 21ft sitting room with part-vaulted ceiling, study, sun room, dining room. large kitchen and a 24ft snooker room with a beech sprung floor and antique snooker table. There is a ground-floor guest suite, five more bedrooms upstairs.

We say: Much bigger than it looks, would suit large family looking for good, nearby grammar schools.

Poetry in motion - and a short walk from the sea

MASEFIELD HOUSE

Helford Passage, Cornwall

Price: pounds 1.9m

Agent: Knight Frank

Tel: 01392 423111

They say: An outstandingly situated house with views to the Helford River and Falmouth Bay. A mile from Mawnan Smith, it was built in 1937 on land previously owned by the poet John Masefield. Modernised and remodelled, it has an entrance hall with oak floor, drawing room, sitting room, dining room, breakfast room, the original kitchen and a new kitchen with two- oven Aga. It has five bedrooms and a second floor which is a large space over most of the house. There is a four-car garage, gardens with fig and palm trees, and a heated swimming pool.

We say: Pure poetry.

Near hallowed ground

THE PAVILION APARTMENTS

St John's Wood, London NW8

Price: pounds 2.895m

Agent: Savills

Tel: 020-7472 5000

They say: A substantial duplex flat of more than 3,400 sq ft on the ground and first floors of this prestigious apartment building opposite Lord's cricket ground. The innovative and modern design earned the architects Koski Solomon Ruthven an award and was described as "bold and beautiful". The four-bedroom flat has four en-suites, 26ft drawing room, dining room, kitchen breakfast room and a study. It has three underground parking spaces and landscaped communal grounds.

We say: Expensive, anonymous and curiously not very British, despite the proximity of the sacred sward.

Devoted gardener required

THE MANOR HOUSE

Eardisland, Herefordshire

Price: pounds 750,000

Agent: Knight Frank

Tel: 01432 273087

They say: Period charm in the Arrow Valley. A six-bedroom listed house in about three-quarters of an acre, with a self-contained flat, behind a Queen Anne facade. Has been run as a bed-and-breakfast, and the self- contained flat and a cottage provide opportunity for additional income. On the ground floor it has a living room, sitting room, dining room and 23ft kitchen. The flat is on the floor above, while the cottage is at the back in the north wing. There are outbuildings, garaging, gardens and a crocus lawn.

We say: A delightful jumble of rooms, with cracking gardens, which would require constant care.