WASHINGTON : When is a floating home not a vessel? The US Supreme Court on Tuesday told a Florida city its argument did not hold water, and that an abode on water was nothing but a home.

In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that a gray, two-story home that its owner said was permanently moored to a Riviera Beach, Florida, marina was not a vessel, depriving the city of power under US maritime law to seize and destroy it.