http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/ Readers homes from HomeSearch en-gb http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/img/logo120x17.gif http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/ webmaster@gmgrd.co.uk WHEN wealthy cotton and silk merchant Henry Theodore Gaddum returned from his travels around the East Indies he bought five acres of land at Bowdon and commissioned the building of Oakley. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/237/237838_magnificent_and_yours_for_75m.html?rss=yes GIVEN its location deep in the Cheshire countryside and the £6m price tag, I had been expecting a bit of "bling" when I bowled along to take a look at the Poole Hall estate in Nantwich. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/212/212224_unrivalled_the_6million_home.html?rss=yes FINDING the right home in the right area at an affordable price can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/209/209961_mixing_the_old_with_the_new.html?rss=yes Some of the best houses are the ones you don't know are there. Tucked away off Chapel Street in Salford, by a bleak patch of land that will sometime soon become a new arts and media centre, is a little cobbled street with the garrison church of St Phillips at one end, a sandstone courthouse building on one side and a perfect row of four Georgian townhouses on the other. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/208/208571_hidden_gem_sparkles_in_the_heart_of_salford.html?rss=yes It takes a unique kind of person to combine being in a pop band with gaining a first class honours degree in physics but Dr Brian Cox is a high achiever in everything he sets out to do. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/208/208611_pop_star_dreaming_of_space.html?rss=yes JAMIE Fitzgerald and her partner Mark Phoenix have spent their lives on the move. The couple, who both love to travel, met on holiday in Mexico and lived in London for a few years before relocating to the north west when Mark was appointed managing director of development company Prestigious Living. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/207/207843_new_york_lifestyle_in_salford_apartment.html?rss=yes JUST a stone's throw from the centre of Cheadle Hulme, tucked away from view of the main road, is a tastefully renovated detached house set behind a private walled garden. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/206/206209_quiet_charm_admid_suburban_bustle.html?rss=yes Positioned 1,000 feet above sea level in the Mellor countryside with a panoramic view of three counties, Coldwall Farm feels like it sits on top of the world. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/204/204588_a_warm_welcome_at_coldwall_farm.html?rss=yes WHEN Sheryl and John Stevenson were renovating their derelict barn in Gee Cross, Hyde, they put their trust in the hands of a builder who was professional and reliable. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/living/s/202/202882_rosy_outlook_after_ruin.html?rss=yes DOWNa quiet street off Barlow Moor Road in West Didsbury, this wonderful house is a magnificent example of how these towering Victorian villas can be brought bang up to date without sacrificing character. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/s/202/202881_classic_villa_is_bang_up_to_date.html?rss=yes THERE used to be thousands of houses in Manchester city centre, but only a handful survived the devastation of bombs and urban planners. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/s/202/202858_flair_on_four_storeys.html?rss=yes TIM Bacon feels completely at home in the kitchen. The Tasmanian entrepreneur is the managing director of Cheshire-based Living Ventures, which has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in bar and restaurant concepts. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/201/201383_living_room_entrepreneurs_recipe_for_success_is_classic_and_contemporary.html?rss=yes THE kettle's boiling and the bagels are toasting as two familiar television faces cook up a programme idea in the family kitchen. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/199/199317_celebrity_house_where_dreams_are_made.html?rss=yes When Kerrie and Garry Rowlands bought a pretty 200-year-old miner's cottage in the village of Ellenbrook near Worsley, they knew it had all the right ingredients to make a spacious family home. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/198/198433_cottage_goes_from_miner_to_major.html?rss=yes WHEN Tony Booth was looking for a career change after 15 years working as a psychiatric nurse he could never have imagined that he would become a best-selling author specialising in property. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/197/197495_the_tale_of_a_property_authors_home.html?rss=yes THIS year will be the first Caroline Rush, her husband Matt and their daughter Lana have spent in their own home since moving north from London five years ago. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/191/191415_home_for_christmas.html?rss=yes NIK and Eva Speakman like to think of themselves as "dream catchers" - helping people to turn their fantasies into reality. The married couple from Rochdale are self-made millionaires, who have become registered life coaches intent on sharing the secret of their success. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/190/190466_catching_hold_of_their_dream.html?rss=yes WHEN artist Anne Goldberg set about remodelling her family home two years ago, she approached it with the same creativity and attention to detail as her paintings. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/189/189592_artist_annes_designs_on_a_dream.html?rss=yes MIKE and Susan Craig's impressive Timperley home is like stepping into the Comedy Hall of Fame. As a writer and producer of more than 1,200 comedy programmes on television and radio, Mike has worked with some of the biggest names in show business from Morecambe and Wise to Tommy Cooper and Ken Dodd. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/182/182120_welcome_to_the_house_of_fun.html?rss=yes With his innovative properties ranging in price from £1.5million to £20 million, Mel Hood is used to expensive and ambitious projects. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/181/181158_the_man_behind_a_starfish_21st_century_house.html?rss=yes THERE'S nothing like a bit of conflict to boost programme ratings. And viewers of last night's Property Ladder on Channel 4 will have seen Sarah Beeny revisit the Manchester house renovator who had the temerity to ignore her advice. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/180/180234_sian_beat_the_expert_and_made_a_killing.html?rss=yes WHEN commercial architect Simon Noblet chanced upon the house of his dreams during a bike ride, he knew he couldn't let the golden opportunity pass him by. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/180/180233_the_dream_that_turned_into_a_cottage_industry.html?rss=yes OR most people buying a new home, the main considerations are usually the location, or the condition of the kitchen and bathroom. When former Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding and her producer husband Karl Beattie were looking to buy a Tudor farmhouse in Cheshire, their biggest concern was `does it have a ghost?' http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/179/179368_favourite_haunt_of_a_celebrity_ghosthunter.html?rss=yes FOR Diane Berry, kitchens are in the blood. This year, she celebrates 25 years as a kitchen designer having begun her apprenticeship working for her father Brian in his kitchen business when she was just 16. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/178/178485_designs_that_give_food_for_thought.html?rss=yes IT wasn't easy to pick a winner but Christine Robinson's heartfelt plea for help to reclaim her living room from her three teenage sons has won her a room makeover from John Lewis at the Trafford Centre. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/178/178483_room_for_improvements.html?rss=yes BY painting all the walls of his home a creamy white, award-winning photographer Michael Swallow has the perfect backdrop on which to display some of his most stunning work. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/177/177572_picture_perfect_home.html?rss=yes Perry and Lisa Hughes believe in keeping things close to home. When they were having their Worsley home remodelled, their architect lived next door but one and their builder next door but two. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/176/176675_revamp_proves_a_real_smash_hit.html?rss=yes Nick and Jane McArdle thrive on challenges and their life has been filled with them. The last couple of years have seen them make the transition from being hoteliers to property developers, rescuing a flagging business by turning their large guesthouse into luxury apartments. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homes/latest/readershomes/s/175/175854_new_room_service.html?rss=yes IT is the quintessential English country house, built in the 1930s when lifestyles were lavish and land not a problem, and for the last 40 years it has been the home of Sir Neil Westbrook. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/172/172995_lavish_house__for_a_cool_4m.html?rss=yes BUILDING things up from scratch is something that Nick Porter has a real talent for. Last August, Nick and his business partner, Julie Besbrode, set up Fresh, an event and video production company based in Hale, which in just 12 months has earned a turnover of £2.25m. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/172/172981_couple_take_control_for_a_dream_home.html?rss=yes BEHIND the unassuming front door of this mid-terrace house in leafy Wilmslow is a design treasure trove. It's home to celebrated interior designer Laura McCree, who has been hitting the headlines in the past week, thanks to one of her rather famous clients. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/172/172980_mccrees_modest_midterrace.html?rss=yes THEimpressive 1930s four-bedroom detached home, on the market for £575,000, is a far cry from estate agent Edward Mellor's humble beginnings. Edward and his June began married life in a terrace in Longsight, with a mortgage of £5 a month. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/171/171974_estate_agents_own_home_up_for_sale.html?rss=yes IT sounds like something from a fairytale - a seven storey home, designed to meet your every need. While it may not be the first church spire home in Manchester, this one at St Mary's in Hulme offers potential purchasers something a little different. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/171/171971_a_spire_to_a_higher_existence.html?rss=yes MARCUS and Simon Aldrich are brothers with grand designs on our gardens. Since setting up Twiga, the two have made a real mark on the garden design world with their distinctive box-shaped "spaces for the outdoors". http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/168/168978_space_the_final_garden_frontier.html?rss=yes WHEN interior designers Vanessa Hawkins and Ashley Cadd stumbled across Salford's `best-kept secret' five years ago, little did they realise what a good investment they had made. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/168/168977_interior_design_masters_at_work.html?rss=yes BUYINGhis house at auction proved to be an intense, nail-biting experience for Jason Coulston. The interior decorator had been looking at properties for a friend when he spotted the semi-detached for sale in Morley Green, Cheshire. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/168/168150_texture_is_key_to_feelgood_factor.html?rss=yes "It'll be lovely when it's finished." If I had been given a tenner every time a visitor or guest had arrived at the house in the last four years and said that, I'd be a rich woman! http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/168/168149_carry_on_renovating.html?rss=yes MIKEand Bernadette Mooney were both working for Manchester city council's leisure department when a memo went round saying the Lodge House at Heaton Park was becoming vacant and new tenants were needed. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/168/168148_tenants_who_bought_a_little_place_in_the_park.html?rss=yes FANCY doing a self-build with all the hard work done for you? If you've a substantial budget to play with, there's a farmhouse just outside Tarporley in Cheshire waiting to be customised. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/167/167341_design_your_own_home.html?rss=yes HAVING just completed her ninth house renovation in as many years, Vicky Alton is fast becoming the Sarah Beeny of south Manchester. Her passion for the property ladder was kindled when she got her first job, at the age of 19, in a Glossop estate agent. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/167/167340_a_hot_passion_for_old_property.html?rss=yes FOR the past five years, Lorraine Howell has run her own successful interior design consultancy Renascent Design. Lorraine's background is in fine art, but in 1997, she took herself back to college to study interior design. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/166/166502_the_pennine_way_to_style.html?rss=yes IT was love at first sight when Zoe and Tony Brook first set eyes upon the "The Old House" in Hale Barns. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/165/165744__old_house_with_the_modern_touch.html?rss=yes THE slowing housing market may be causing sleepless nights for some but if you are in a position to move quickly you can use it your advantage. With the number of house sales down a reported 30 per cent on this time last year you can save time and cash if you can act swiftly. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/homesearch/latest/readershomes/s/164/164955_rushing_roulette__not_if_you_plan.html?rss=yes