Party like it's 1859: Ravers want to buy abandoned British fort at 1 Thames
It's quite a disarming sales pitch, really.
"I'm not going to lie to you. It's an absolute monster."
The real estate agent for one of the more imposing addresses imaginable -- 1 Thames, as in the river -- didn't sugarcoat his listing when he spoke to the Guardian. No use denying the fact that the Grain Tower Battery, a 19th-century fort at the strategically significant confluence of the River Medway and the Thames estuary in southern England, has been virtually abandoned. The graffiti alone attests to that. (Click here or on an image for a slideshow.)
Furthermore, its location off the Isle of Grain is accessible only by boat except at low tide, when half a mile of mucky old causeway beckons the foolhardy.
Yet the property is on the market for half a million pounds, or about $828,000.
It's believed to have been built in or around 1855, possibly during the Crimean War. Its walls are 15 feet thick in places, and it's considered likely to be bomb-proof still. Yahoo Finance UK estimates its square footage at 25,000, including more recent construction grafted onto it -- for instance, a two-story barracks built to house 60 World War II soldiers.
No weapons remain, of course, but originally a giant gun sat on the roof, and in 1912, two 5,000-pound quick-firing coastal defense guns were mounted on the tower, according to Yahoo Finance UK.
What's the property good for now? "Almost anything," Riverhomes' official listing gamely suggests: "a private residence, an offshore hotel, a houseboat community, outdoor pursuit centre, film location, nightclub, casino to name a few!" Subject to planning permission, obviously.
"The property is of course in need of complete renovation," the listing chides prospective owners, supplying architectural visions (included in our slideshow) to jumpstart the imagination.
Riverhomes agent Nigel Day, who estimated that renovations would cost more than $1.5 million, told news outlets that the interest has been "absolutely phenomenal."
One Scottish group undaunted by the logistical challenges has launched a Kickstarter-like fundraising campaign to turn the fort into a nightclub "where the party will never stop." Minival, an "electronic music carnival" that was founded at the University of Aberdeen, envisions a kind of Berghain-on-Sea (referring to the notorious Berlin club called Berghain).
Over the last week and a half, "everyone's party fort" has raised more than 55,000 pounds toward its 750,000-pound goal (but though it had 767 donations as of this writing, 90 percent of the money came from a single donor).
Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of No. 1 Thames -- the Grain Tower Battery.
More tales of abandonment on Yahoo Homes:
• Haunting photos of abandoned castles
• Abandoned London loos become posh apartment
• Abandoned Beverly Hills mansion has Hollywood-worthy Minnelli backstory
