Look what you can get for half a million in Wales!

500,000 British pounds – that’s about 550,000 francs. Well, for that amount there is nothing in Zurich. The first 1.5-room apartments of about 30 square meters in Friesenberg or Witikon are available from CHF 650,000. In Schaffhausen, for example, or in the Thun area, you can find one or the other 2.5-room apartment for 550,000. In the seaside town of Pembroke Dock in picturesque West Wales, you can get that money…

… an ENTIRE VICTORIAN BARracks.

And then a real one star fortress a huge, star-shaped renaissance-style stone fortress surrounded by a moat!

These are the Defensible Barracks, built in the mid-1840s to house the Royal Marines stationed at Pembroke Dockyard and responsible for protecting the dockyard. It was last used during the Second World War by the Royal Air Force piloting their flying boats for anti-submarine warfare in the Milford Haven Estuary.

At the center of the fortress is a parade ground surrounded by barracks blocks that once housed mess halls, magazines and gun sheds.

Located on a hill above the town, the fort is entered through a northern gateway fitted with musket loopholes and winches for the former sliding drawbridge.

The huge courtyard and parade ground are separated from the barracks buildings in the Georgian Architectural style surrounded by the typical 12-pane windows.

The three to four storey buildings are made of stone, brick, wood and steel, the roofs are mostly slate. It has a continuous basement with several stone steps on half arches of brick. Cast iron balustrades with Prince of Wales springs and VR (=Victoria Regina) coat of arms can be found throughout the property.

A number of handcrafted details offer a glimpse into the property’s history, from the many embrasures and gun batteries to the officers’ mess, an artillery shop disguised as a ‘barber’s shop’ and much more.

But above all, the buildings offer enormous potential for residential purposes, because they have a lot of natural light, large sliding windows, impressive stairwells, generous spatial dimensions and much more. After all, they weren’t just for defense; people lived and worked here.

OK. Certainly. The renovation would be appropriate, a multiple of the purchase price, which is probably why it is so low.

But the building fabric is solid and the potential is huge. The barracks and associated buildings are full of character and detailed and are suitable for conversion into a home or hotel. Or individual apartments. A combination of private apartments, hotel, bar would be best. Hey, maybe rent out another wing as an office building. Why not? And the parade ground could be excavated into a sheltered garden. No shortage of ideas.

It’s also in Pembrokeshire, one of the most beautiful parts of Wales, famous for its beaches, medieval castles, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and sports (walking, coasteering, surfing – that sort of thing). On both sides of the Milford Haven estuary are picturesque towns and hamlets and beautiful countryside. The harbor town of Pembroke Dock itself still shows a bit of the rigor of the former dockyard and garrison town, but this has a quirky charm to it. It has a fish market where you can get probably the freshest fish in Britain, gastropubs, coffee shops and historic inside quiet and still. Come on! Gentrification is underway!

And here’s the second “Okay, of course”: The building is a listed building. yes Aaaaaber, the permit for a conversion into a hotel complex is available and the responsible monument care must also be sympathetic to renovation requests. That means: No, you cannot place a glass palace in the middle of the courtyard. But if the exterior is refurbished and renovated, you can get creative in the interior.

Uff – a mega project. You should be a real estate mogul!
But dreams are allowed. And still look at pictures.

Here let’s go to the broker …