Why buy an Auckland trophy home when you can buy a private island?

An enchanting private island, boasting 183ha of pristine beauty, is now available for purchase off the western coast of Scotland.

Sanda Island, situated between Scotland and Northern Ireland, offers a picturesque landscape complete with sandy beaches, a cluster of seven houses, a charming pub, helipad, flourishing wildlife, and a lighthouse.

All this for roughly $5 million.

Right now, the Sanda Island is up for sale for US$3.1m ($5.2m) and is marketed at wealthy individuals seeking private properties, or entrepreneurs who could commercialise one or all of the island’s amenities.

The island has a rich history associated with monks, saints, and kings, including Scottish King Robert the Bruce. It also had a long list of iconic owners, from kings to millionaires to Scottish musicians like Jack Bruce. But it is now looking for a new homeowner to bring some life back to the island.

Owning Sanda Island sounds cool, but what’s in it for you?

The island is accessible by boat, equipped with beautiful stone slipways at both ends, but if you wish for a fancier ride, a helicopter can take you there too.

The island can accommodate up to 26 people across seven beautiful and recently refurbished residential properties.

There’s also a pub.

The Byron Darnton Tavern, named after a ship that wrecked off the island in 1946, is equipped with an alcohol licence because it was previously open to travellers sailing up and down the west coast in the summer but was closed in 2010 by the then-owner, Michi Meier.

But wait, there’s more.

Scottish Blackface sheep. Photo / Supplied

In between pints at the pub, you can see to your flock of sheep. With a registered farm code, a small farm, and a flock of 55 Scottish Blackface sheep, the new owners can establish a farming business that should easily gain profit. Aside from your woolly neighbours, colonies of puffins, kittiwakes, cormorants, shags, razorbills, and other bird species all inhabit the island.

Just when you thought you couldn’t get any more bang for your buck (all five million of them), the sale also includes two additional islands: the 12.8ha Sheep Island and the 1.7ha Glunimore Island.

However, the real benefit of owning this island is for the people who wish to go off-grid and live a slow, cosy, and reclusive life, while enjoying the sound of waves, watching wildlife, and sunsets by the shore.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.