I use good 'ol FTP for irregular transfers. Mobile side, I use Ghost Commander, which is a file manager with FTP support. On my computers, I usually use vsftpd, but there are simpler programs like uftpd. You can also access remotely and/or securely if you use an encrypted overlay network like yggdrasil.

I did this a few years back and chose to host, for now, with migadu. They have imap, pop, and a web interface. I use POP myself, because I prefer to house my data.

Client-wise, I use mutt and download messages with mpop, which is a snap to compile if your distro doesn't have a package.

I have no complaints. This setup is flexible and simple. Migadu provides clear instructions for setting up your domain.