This week: grand castles – from a 13th-century castle overlooking the north sea in caithness, scotland, to a renovated castle with over 66 acres of botanical gardens in the hills of piacenza, italy

Whitney Court, Whitney-on-Wye, Hereford, Herefordshire. A manor built in 1897 with what was then state-of-the-art technology, including an electric bell system and ducted air central heating. It has a

Barnbarroch House, Barnbarroch, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. A country house with views towards Urr Water estuary with two two-bedroom cottages in the grounds. It has period fireplaces and a kitchen

Fairy-tale dwellings

Cushnie House, Cushnie, Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This B-listed former Laird’s house comes with grounds that include five ponds and a vegetable garden. An additional 28 acres of land is availab

There is nothing quite like a barn conversion with its characterful features and nod to an agrarian past to get the pulse racing, so who wouldn’t love one of these distinctive homes magnificently transformed for rural living

Once the country seat of Liverpool wool barons turned shipping tycoons, Gyrn Castle is now seeking new custodians, as is Tudor Revival-style Fulford Hall, the Victorian seat of a frontier adventurer