Pambroxire’s Thorn Island Fort turned into a £ 3m party space

Many people to take on a renovation project, some change and make their own.

But for the CEO of a former software company, the opportunity to bring back the 19th -century Napoleon Fort to life was brought with more challenges, as much as he ever estimated.

The 52 -year -old Mike Konner snatched the island of Thorn near Milford Heaven in Pambroxyar for £ 555,000 in May 2017.

The building, which was known to its parties under the previous owner, was vacant for 17 years, was carrying it for a year to bring it in a year.

Now 40 beds, four N-suits bathroom and equipped with their own nightclub, there is no flowing water in the historic building, and is back to the market for £ 3m.

“Many have described it as a midlife crisis,” Mr. Konner jokingly said.

“I really didn’t know what I was doing myself.”

Leveled with history, the 100-man fort was originally designed to protect the busy port of Milford Heaven from the French Navy attacks in the 1850s.

It was converted into a hotel in 1947 and hired for birthday parties, weddings and stag parties before being sold in 1999.

By 2001, the building was purchased by the von Essen Hotel Group, which was aimed at spending a £ 4M to reopen a hotel equipped with a cable car to allow access from the mainland.

But this was quite left when Mr. Konner bought a listed building, leaving to grow the island of Halachal party once.

“There was no electricity, no water, and any food or garbage needed to come back,” he said.

“My wife was very cross when I first said that I had bought it, she said that she once had a flushing louis, which is very appropriate.”

But Mr. Conner did not guess that the first flush would need to be cut through 16 feet (5 m) of rock to go to the biodigator pump, eventually spending £ 200K.

“Wales found some magnificent historical buildings that are actually in the depressed states,” said Mr. Konner.

It took about five years to bring the entire Thorne Island renovation process on line, with six people living on the island for about four years, while the work was going on.

Most of the tools were brought through the helicopter, Mr. Konner said, a process that he described as “incredibly difficult” was placed.

He said that it was extremely difficult to get the material, but it was also a challenge for those who work on the project and live on the site.

“Most people who joined the project, I still work together now,” said Mr. Konner.

“You can’t just guess how many people want to help you.”

Men working on the island will spend about two weeks of stents on the island, unable to bathe and covered in dust.

“They will charge their phone with a generator, and would have to take a dip in the sea to wash. It was a difficult life,” said Mr. Conner.

Trained as a design and technology teacher, Mr. Konner said that the design process made him the most excited.

He said that he could not believe that Victorians could make something so spectacular, inspiring him to walk.

He said: “A thousand men were working on it for two years, it was made in the same way that the stone is Heng.”

“I felt that my work is really modernizing it,” Mr. Konner said, adding renewal was one of the tasks to find out how new would work with the new.

“This almost seems like a tribute to their hard work and you are really already constructing the final slightly at the top of a terrible, bomb-profile construction.”

From the parties of 80-people to “Milopond Cerenti”, according to Mr. Conner, the island “saw everything”.

With “No Nebars to distress”, the island hosted his own festival for Mr. Konner’s 50th birthday, which was completed with a tight-Rasi artist in the picturesque courtyard.

“Those who come for the weekend are surprised when I hand over a bin liner to them and say that they need to come back with them – but no one comes here to collect coaches.”

As a former CEO, Mr. Konner described his time on the island as “incredible” as he had to let the daily routine go.

“We all often live by a calendar of scheduled meetings, but the island is full opposite – it is far from the grid. It takes real time, it looks like survival.”

The time stops on the island, Mr. Konner said, saying that something is always going on, people moved to keep their phone away.

“I think that makes Thorn a special place, that people exist.”

Originally from Glostersresire, Sri Konner does not live on the island, but as the primary contractor spent a lot of time during the renovation process.

He initially ran his business along with the enterprise, but sold his software company two years ago.

“For me it was a completely parallel life of chaos, which was especially quite terrible through Kovid.”

The project also removed the lid on the individual heritage of Mr. Conner, as it was not until he found the key, he came to know that he was actually a fourth welesh, because his mother grew up in Apon Castle, Pembroke Dock.

Talking about the future of the island, Mr. Konner said that he hopes that its new owner enjoys as much as he has, but also that there is a great ability to operate as a tourist attraction, or host the “most incredible waves”.

Mr. Konner said that he envisaged the site offering “incredible 24-hour experience” with the ability to host around 800 people.

“I think it will be great for Wales, but I’m not in that industry and I don’t know how it works.

“If it was generating revenue, and creating employment and maintaining itself, this would be a great result.

He said, “The more people can use it better, because it is one of the most interesting buildings in the region,” he said.

Mr. Konner said that more people need to come to Wales and see what it is.

“This is an empty canvas, and the next owner can do what it is,” he said, talking about the island.

“But if there is any incident, I will crawl on the broken glass to reach there.”