Exotic. Secluded. Romantic. These were the words I thought of when I pictured a private island. No longer. Now, only one word springs to mind. Reminiscent of the legendary businesswoman and media personality Gemma Collins, Stansted airport and, of course, the eponymous Joey: Essex.
Yes, Osea Island, a private island in the estuary of the River Blackwater, near Maldon in Essex, is for sale. Expected to go for £25,000,000, it spans approximately 380 acres and features a total of 90 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms. Not all in one giant palace, but spread across a string of buildings on the island.
Osea Island: a land rich in bathrooms
An added bonus: it is only 40 miles away from central London, which makes it eminently commutable — particularly if you have a helicopter. Which, if you're fishing in the £25m property pond, you might well do.
If that doesn’t already sound unique enough, there’s more. It is where the rapper Stormzy wrote his latest album This Is What I Mean and is where The Woman in Black was filmed. The Third Day starring Jude Law, 28 Years Later directed by Danny Boyle and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar were also filmed on the island.
Daniel Radcliffe enjoying the Essex air while filming The Woman in Black
And if all that still isn’t enough, the only road in and out is an ancient Roman causeway that's beneath the water at low tide, leaving you to get home by boat or by air. And by 'home', we mean one of the 38 residential properties that include a manor house and a string of other houses, cottages, and apartments. Perfect for you and 37 of your closest friends.
Additionally, it has public buildings, event spaces, and could be further developed, if you were looking at the many, many properties on Osea Island and thinking that there were not already enough on its 380 acres of land.
Since 2004, it has been owned by the music producer Nigel Frieda, best known for founding the Sugababes and having produced the Rolling Stones. Unsurprisingly, the island has been a venue for weddings – including Olly Murs’, who is from Essex – and all sorts of A-list events, in addition to being used as a film set. It was also once hired by Rihanna.
According to the BBC, it also played a part during the First World War, when torpedo-carrying speedboats apparently operated from an secret naval base there. The cover story for that base, from what we can see of this 1918 photo, is that the island served as an outpost of the Women's Royal Naval Service:
Osea Island, pre-Stormzy.
Nowadays, it offers bespoke music studios with state-of-the-art recording facilities and event spaces.
Georgie Veale, of Knight Frank, who the property is on the market with, along with Fine & Country called it an ‘exceptionally rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’, and I thoroughly agree.
The island is gorgeous, with stunning sea views and plenty of green space and the properties are not only grand, but have history. Each telling a story of the people who have lived there before. If I had the chance, I’d be moving in tomorrow. And I’d probably never leave.
Osea Island is for sale via Knight Frank and Fine & Country.
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