Abandoned Fort on a Private Island in New York Has Hit the Market for Less Than $1 Million

If you love old, abandoned places and don’t mind a fixer-upper, this 19th-century fort could be yours for less than $1 million. As Atlas Obscura reports, Fort Montgomery in upstate New York is currently for sale at a reduced price. The owners have been trying to offload the property for decades, but to their disappointment, there haven’t been any interested buyers.

It's part of the town of Rouses Point, New York, which is situated along the Canadian border. The fort comes with the 8-acre island it’s situated on, plus an additional 86 acres of underwater land in Lake Champlain.

Sure, the fort itself has seen better days, but it might appeal to history buffs. Before Fort Montgomery was built, the island was home to an earlier structure that was meant to protect the U.S. border, but was mistakenly built on the Canadian side. This mishap earned it the nickname “Fort Blunder.” At the time, relations between America and British-governed Canada were somewhat tense, so the structure was torn down and Fort Montgomery was erected (on the correct side of the border). It was built over the course of three decades and ended up being a proper fort with a moat, drawbridge, and armed soldiers to boot.

Nowadays, it’s less of a military outpost and more of a “serene retreat,” according to real estate company Private Islands Inc., which is hoping to sell the property for $995,000. “When you enter Fort Montgomery Island Estates, you cross the threshold into a priceless scenic world,” the site's description of the property reads. “Sunrises and sunsets illuminate the sky over picturesque Lake Champlain and a magnificent 6,500 feet of nature preserves.”

If this property doesn’t appeal to you, there's a private island with ancient ruins in Ireland that could be yours for $1.4 million, while another island off the coast of Sicily could sell for as little as $1.1 million.

[h/t Atlas Obscura]