Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market
35 comments
·August 9, 2025onesun
Why does the article say it's 3 nautical miles off the coast? If you just zoom out a bit on google maps, I measure the mainland to be less than 1000 ft. away.
craz8
I think it’s the distance by boat to the nearest dock, not as the seagull flies
memnips
What I find impressive is that he somehow managed to renovate this property for only $2.7M?! Including 350 helicopter trips over two days!
romaaeterna
Why couldn't he rent a boat?
snypher
"said the overhaul, which has only been completed this year, cost more than £2 million ($2.7 million)."
mikewarot
Clearly, it needs a secret tunnel to the mainland, with really good pumps and backup power.
elcritch
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.
jlarocco
That's a strange conclusion to draw.
There's plenty of open land where people could live without needlessly complicated automated electric drone taxis.
lo_zamoyski
> Amazing and only £3 million!? Out of my budget but that's probably about the cost of a normal house in London.
Yeah, but you have far fewer of the amenities and benefits than a city like London provides. Also, the recurring costs are no doubt greater, like food deliveries, public utilities, etc.
fifilura
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.
TheCraiggers
> 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.
fifilura
Why compare the price with a London house then?
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pixxel
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fitsumbelay
zombie proof as TIL they generally aren't good swimmers. But in a real end of world sitch I think it's from one of those nearby fjordy bits no?
WalterBright
> The fort, which is only accessible by sea or air
Being an island, I sort of expected that.
zabzonk
several uk islands are accessible by bridges.
griffzhowl
> The fort’s highlights include ... a sea-view office.
andrewstuart
The idea of owning it is probably more appealing than owning it.
JonChesterfield
That is a coding retreat done properly. Very nice indeed
dyauspitr
It’s going to be a cold hellhole for half the year
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!