This untamed isle off Scotland’s western coast is looking for a new owner.
Despite being wild, with no buildings to speak of, and only accessible by boat or wading, Barlocco Island’s listing agent has been inundated with potential buyers.
Although selling 25 acres of difficult-to-inhabit wilderness for the price of an affordable parking space may seem like an uphill battle, David Corrie has had no problem finding folks interested in purchasing the parcel in Fleet Bay.
“The only possibility for anyone wishing to stay on the island for any period of time would be off-grid solutions, such as solar power,” Corrie told the New York Times, explaining that environmental protections prevent owners from easily installing any permanent structures on the island, now listed for a minimum of $186,000. “These are usually assets held by historic farms or estates that perhaps no longer have a use for them.”
And yet, since the listing posted this past Thursday, Corrie has received no fewer than 50 inquiries into buying the spit of nature, with interested parties from Italy, Germany, Norway, Britain and the United States.
The appeal, he noted to the Times, comes significantly from the opportunity Barlocco presents to people “wishing to reconnect with the land.”
He would know: In 2017, he and his firm handled the sale of one Little Ross Island down Scotland’s coast from Barlocco.
Indeed, it is impossible to access Barlocco — which is 6 miles from the nearest town and some two hours from Glasgow — without interacting with the natural world. Access necessitates coming by sea either in a vessel or “on foot or by tractor or quad bike” at low tide, according to the listing.
Once there, amenities include a pebble beach, a flood pond for livestock and sweeping views of the Scottish sky and all the infinities it holds.