Both currently used as hotels, the two properties can be converted into a residential property for a buyer looking for the ultimate private escape
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For buyers interested in taking their home security to the next level, this pair of historic forts floating off the coast of England might suit.
The duo, dubbed No Mans Fort and Spitbank Fort, are nestled in the sea between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth on the mainland and they’re headed under the hammer with Savills on June 18 with a guide price of £1 million (US$1.26 million) each.
Though both are currently used as hotels, each has pre-existing permission to be converted into a residential property for a buyer or buyers looking for the ultimate private escape.
Both forts, which have previously been on the market for £4.25 million and £4 million, respectively, “offer an opportunity like no other; a waterfront location, up to 99,000 square feet of space and a chance to champion the heritage and legacy of these iconic maritime structures,” said Robin Howeson, head of Savills Auctions, in a news release.
Mansion Global couldn’t identify the owners, but according to Savills, they’ve held both of the unique properties for 12 years.
No Mans Fort is roughly a 35-minute boat ride from the mainland. Over its four levels, it has 23 bedrooms, plus staff quarters, a restaurant, bars, a traditional English pub, a rooftop terrace and a nightclub.
Spitbank Fort is a little closer to land, sitting in the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour, and spans three floors with nine bedrooms, a restaurant, bars, a wine cave, a games room, a pool and spa facilities. There’s also a scenic rooftop terrace, a sun deck and a fire pit.
“Throughout my career as an auctioneer I’ve seen several sea forts hit the market that have achieved impressive prices,” Howeson said, calling such forts trophy assets. “I anticipate there to be a global interest from multiple buyer types looking to take the forts into their next chapter, whether that’s as a new commercial venture or residential home.”
In 2022, Savills auctions sold the unmodernized Bull Sandfort in the Humber Estuary on the east coast of Northern England for £490,000, nearly 10 times its guide price after worldwide competition from bidders in 27 countries, the firm said.
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New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
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When it comes to rewarding workers financially, cash isn’t always king.
Companies frequently give employees monetary bonuses, but a new study suggests that paid vacation time is a perk employers should also consider.
The study’s authors say that while they didn’t explicitly look into whether employees prefer time off, the study found that receiving extra vacation time rather than bonus money makes workers feel less like a mere cog in a wheel and more like people who are recognised and valued as individuals with a life beyond work.
It makes them feel more human, in the researchers’ terms.
And that feeling benefits employers as well as employees, says Sanford DeVoe, a professor at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and one of the study’s authors.
Feeling more human is strongly correlated with higher job satisfaction, greater engagement with work, better relationships with colleagues and less inclination to leave a job, he says.
In one experiment, the researchers asked about 1,500 participants to recall times when they received a monetary bonus or paid time off—all had received both—and how that made them feel.
Participants responded to the question on a 7-point scale, from feeling more like a robot on the low end of the scale to feeling more human on the high end. Monetary bonuses were given an average score of 5.04, compared with 5.4 for paid vacation time.
“While that difference may sound modest numerically, it represents a meaningful psychological shift,” says DeVoe. “It’s the difference between feeling neutral and feeling genuinely seen as a person.”
The authors then sought to better understand why paid vacation time made employees feel more human. In another experiment, about 500 participants were asked to imagine starting a new job where they might be awarded a bonus. Some were told the bonus would be an extra week of vacation, others were told it would be an extra week of pay.
Participants were then asked about their expectations for being able to keep their work and home lives separate in the new job. Those who could hope for a bonus of extra time off expected more separation between their work and personal lives than those whose potential bonus would be extra pay.
They also reported feeling more human on the 7-point scale. This suggested to the researchers that time off makes people feel more human because it creates a clearer psychological distance from work than a monetary bonus.
In a third experiment, the researchers further tested the idea that clear boundaries between work and personal lives were driving their results.
Two hundred participants were told to imagine being on a vacation and receiving two texts, including one from their mother. Half were told the second text was from a friend and half were told the second text was from their boss.
The authors then measured how human participants felt after each scenario. The average score for those receiving a text from a friend was 5.4 on the 7-point scale, compared with 4.16 for those receiving a text from the boss.
The difference in the scores “demonstrates that even minimal work intrusions can undo the psychological benefits of time off,” says DeVoe. “It shows that it’s not just time away that matters—it’s whether work actually lets go.”
All of this is important for employers looking to get the most out of their workers, he says. “For managers concerned with sustainable productivity, giving people uninterrupted time away from work can be a powerful lever.”
