What it is: Dolish Farm, on the market for the first time in 80 years, could be one of the last unspoilt farmhouses in the West Country. It has no kitchen as such, just a Rayburn in the living room and a stone sink and tap in the tiny scullery. Upstairs, the six bedrooms and two bathrooms extend over the wash house, creamery and cider house. The farm, which dates from the 18th century, is set in four acres, with an orchard, a paddock, a range of thick-walled outbuildings set around a cobbled courtyard and two detached stone barns. It is in the Blackdown Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Devon/Somerset borders. The farm is six miles from the A30 and Honiton, where it is being auctioned at the Honiton Motel on May 8 at 3pm.

The problems: “It is a bit Cold Comfort Farm,” says Pamela Zoeller, a valuer with Stags, the selling agents.

The property has electricity and a telephone, but needs structural attention as well as general renovation, which would include installing a new private drainage system and central heating, as well as rewiring, replumbing and complete redecoration – all of which will cost a buyer an estimated £200,000. The farm is not listed, so there may be some flexibility in redesigning the living space: carving up the first floor to create four larger bedrooms, for example, and putting in a new corridor and bathrooms.

The advantages: Such unmodernised properties are increasingly rare and attract an incredible amount of interest, says Zoeller, who has sent out 250 brochures and held 66 viewings in the past six weeks.

“Everyone is enchanted by it,” she says. “The location is idyllic. It would make a perfect project for an ambitious owner-occupier or be suitable for a boutique B&B or holiday-lets business.”

Zoeller estimates the property, once renovated to a high standard, would sell on for about £1m.

Stags; 01404 45885, www.stags.co.uk

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