There are some parts of London where one million pounds won’t get you very far. Set your sights a little further afield, however, and you may be surprised how far it will stretch. Less than an hour north of Glasgow, in the middle of the scenic Loch Lomond, sits Inchlonaig Island: a huge, 182 acre island which is currently on the market for £995,000. For context, 182 acres is the equivalent of about 91 football pitches, or nearly two times the size of Vatican City.
What this sum gets you is the whole island, complete with a jetty (you’ll need a boat, there don’t seem to be any roads or shops on the island), a two bedroom cottage, and three derelict bothies. You could make a nice little income renting those out to weekenders, or simply be the family's favourite summer-holiday host. The cottage and bothies are surrounded by Yew trees, which can be traced back as far as the 14th Century: the then King of Scots, Robert the Bruce, is said to have planted hundreds of them on the island. In among the trees you’ll find resident fallow and white deer.
Though resources (other than firewood) are scarce on the island itself, it’s a short hop across the water to the pretty village of Luss, home to shops, a pub, restaurants, hotels, church, primary school and pier. There are two train stations in the nearby village of Alexandria, both with regular 45-minute trains to Glasgow, meaning it’s perfectly possible to commute into the city on a daily basis.
The Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park is a ‘SSSI’ (Site of Special Scientific Interest). The island is surrounded by the undeniable beauty of the lake, and beyond that hills and forests as far as the eye can see, including the mountain Ben Lomond. Perfect for a spot of hiking.
We can’t comment on the state of the cottage, as any images of it are conspicuously missing from the Savills listing, but even if it is a bit of a fixer upper, we’ll take that over a damp basement in Camden. What could be more idyllic than living in total peace, surrounded by natural beauty, where not even the postman can interrupt?
Listed by Cameron Ewer of Savills for £995,000.
