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Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

cnn.com

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Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#11

Post by fooqux »

fifilura wrote: post #8
elcritch wrote: post #7

Amazing and only £3 million!? Out of my budget but that's probably about the cost of a normal house in London. Things like this fort make me convinced that automated electric drone taxis could open up a lot of living possibilities. Get one of those and you could turn it into an amazing Airbnb or alternatively a community.

I'd rather live in central London. And maintenance and running costs are probably higher than a regular house. If you want to get away from it all there are cheaper alternatives. And if you are not afraid of maintenance cost, there are also better alternatives, such as a small castle or a farm, closer to where other people live.

> And if you are not afraid of maintenance cost, there are also better alternatives, such as a small castle or a farm, closer to where other people live.

I think the entire point of something like this is to be further from where other people live.

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#14

Post by neom »

bell-cot wrote: post #2

Imagine owning an island fortress with it's own Wikipedia and Grade II* listings! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne_Island https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300017169-thorne-island... Try not to imagine the upkeep costs on the historic-listed 2 acres that you paid $4M for - which are only accessible by helicopter, or by risk-tolerant boat (Wikipedia notes a dozen wrecks in the immediate vicinity) and lots of st…

For those of you who also have no clue what a Grade II* is, it appears to be a protected status of buildings in the UK - In the UK, listed buildings are graded according to their historic and architectural importance: Grade I: Buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of listings) Grade II*: Particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.5% of listings) Grade II: Buildings of special interest (about 92% of listings) - Thorne Island Fort is classified as "Grade II*" (Grade Two Star) so apparently it's considered particularly important and of more than just special interest.

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#15

Post by craz8 »

I grew up in that area and went to school with a member of the family that owned Thorne Island at the time.

There are times of the year that access is not possible at all due to weather which does limit the usefulness of the location.

The Angle lifeboat isn’t far away in an emergency though, so that’s helpful.

There are other Victorian fort locations in that area in private hands. A different school friend owned more than one of these for a while. Maintenance costs are outrageous!

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#16

Post by anthonj »

Looks like this island doesn't have a real beach or even easy access to the sea for a swim or watersports.

I feel like this heavily defeats the point of owning your own island. Every other private island I've seen on Wikipedia looks like some kind of paradisiac resort. With beaches, greenery, confy gazebos etc..

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#17

Post by fifilura »

fooqux wrote: post #11
fifilura wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather live in central London. And maintenance and running costs are probably higher than a regular house. If you want to get away from it all there are cheaper alternatives. And if you are not afraid of maintenance cost, there are also better alternatives, such as a small castle or a farm, closer to where other people live.

> And if you are not afraid of maintenance cost, there are also better alternatives, such as a small castle or a farm, closer to where other people live. I think the entire point of something like this is to be further from where other people live.

Why compare the price with a London house then?

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#18

Post by pm215 »

neom wrote: post #14
bell-cot wrote: post #2

Imagine owning an island fortress with it's own Wikipedia and Grade II* listings! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne_Island https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300017169-thorne-island... Try not to imagine the upkeep costs on the historic-listed 2 acres that you paid $4M for - which are only accessible by helicopter, or by risk-tolerant boat (Wikipedia notes a dozen wrecks in the immediate vicinity) and lots of st…

For those of you who also have no clue what a Grade II* is, it appears to be a protected status of buildings in the UK - In the UK, listed buildings are graded according to their historic and architectural importance: Grade I: Buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of listings) Grade II*: Particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.5% of listings) Grade II: Buildings of special inte…

In particular listed buildings are subject to special planning rules and need permission for any extension, alteration or deletion; the planning authorities can mandate that you do any alterations in particular ways (e.g. use of traditional materials) to avoid damaging the character of the building. This means that everything is more expensive and takes longer. Luckily in this case the current owner seems to have done all that hard work already...

Re: Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market

#19

Post by scarlehoff »

fifilura wrote: post #17
fooqux wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And if you are not afraid of maintenance cost, there are also better alternatives, such as a small castle or a farm, closer to where other people live. I think the entire point of something like this is to be further from where other people live.

Why compare the price with a London house then?

Not GP, but for me it means that this is affordable for someone "not a billionaire" (for example if your family happens to be from London since generations).

I would keep the London house given the choice though :P

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