From the Electronic Telegraph:

Doomer Dream Home Article

ISSUE 1727 Wednesday 16 February 2000

#1 property comes with cast-iron guarantee By Sean O'Neill

A CAST-IRON lighthouse, the only one of its kind off the coast of Britain, is being offered for sale for #1.

The 130ft Whitford Point light, off the Gower peninsula in South Wales, was built in 1865. It was constructed from sections of cast iron after its wooden predecessor was washed away in a storm. The building, which was last used in 1926, has one room, electricity but no running water.

It has potential as a unique holiday home but any purchaser will need substantial funds to carry out repairs and renovation to the landmark, which has suffered from much erosion over the years. It is being sold by the Millennium Coastal Park, which was set up to improve the coastline around Llanelli.

The organisation had planned to restore the lighthouse and use it to flash a laser beam across the Bristol Channel to celebrate its regeneration programme, but the scheme proved too costly. Gerry Phillips, the park's director, said: "It can be seen from all parts of the coastal park and catches the eye as a focal point in the estuary. We would be sad to lose it but this is the only hope of saving it and restoring it to its former glory."

Interested parties need to be aware of a couple of further possible hazards. The lighthouse can be reached only by foot at low tide and the shoreline was a Second World War firing range on which unexploded shells are still found occasionally.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 15, 2000

Answers

KOOL! Don't forget the Prep Forum! ;^)

I believe this accessibility situation is called, in Gaelic, an "orosay" -- as in the Hebrides. Is there a catchy English term?

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-- Squirrel Hunter (nuts@upina.cellrelaytower), February 15, 2000.

"A CAST-IRON lighthouse":

Sounds like it would be fun in a real thunderstorm; but they don't have many at that site.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), February 15, 2000.

Several tons of scrap cast iron ought to have some salvage value.

But with labor and haulage ... A pound sounds about right. And the buyer gets to pay taxes, too, I expect.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 15, 2000.

Hey! A prefabricated metal building with classic design... Snug and cozy structure perfect for the (welder) handyman. Should be of special interest to writers, artists, honeymooners, and wannabe bomb disposal experts. It could also be of interest as a potential location for a sequal to "Pete's Dragon." In short, there is definitely a market for this unique structure!

But the shipping to Kaua'i would be a killer...especially with the current price of oil.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), February 16, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

About 30 years ago (I don't know if they still do it) Holland had a program of selling windmills for about the same price, with a promise to keep them up. Those things are huge. It would get kind of noisy living in one I suppose, but there shouldn't be any problem getting power.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), February 16, 2000.