Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)
Encyclopedia
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
just north of Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands . Located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about...
, located at 18°31′38"N 64°21′29"W. All of the land on the island is owned by Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, famous for his Virgin
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
brand, and it is part of the Virgin Limited Edition
Virgin Limited Edition
Virgin Limited Edition, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of business ventures, is a collection of vacation retreats around the world.The sites are selected for their prime locations and attractive surroundings and together comprise a collection of some of the world’s prime real estate.-...
portfolio of luxury properties. The entire island operates like a resort and can accommodate up to 28 guests.
History
The island was named after the 17th century Dutch squadron commander Johannes de Neckere, although it remained uninhabited until the late 20th century.In 1965 the celebrated photographer Don McCullin
Don McCullin
Donald McCullin, FRPS CBE is an internationally known British photojournalist, particularly recognized for his war photography and images of urban strife...
and the journalist Andrew Alexander, spent fourteen days on the island at the behest of the Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
newspaper for whom they worked. The magazine editor had hoped that they would survive their castaway
Castaway
A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade their captors or the world in general. Alternatively, a person or item can be cast away, meaning rejected or discarded...
adventure for at least three weeks, but as McCullin later recounted, "because of our gathering weakness (…) out of temper, and out of water, we hoisted the red flag and were taken off in the early hours of the fifteenth day". According to McCullin, there was nothing idyllic about the desert island
Desert island
A desert island or uninhabited island is an island that has yet to be populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often used in movies or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes for the idea of "paradise". Some uninhabited islands are protected as nature reserves and...
: "It was inhabited by snakes, scorpions and tarantulas (…) The mosquitos and other insects were more venomous and persistent than any I had encountered in Vietnam or the Congo."
Ownership by Richard Branson
Branson first became aware that some of the islands in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
were for sale in 1979. In 1978 he went to the British Virgin Islands for a holiday in order to investigate the prospective real estate. On first observing the islands, he envisioned using them to put up rock stars for his record label. Upon arrival, they were given a luxury villa and travelled around islands for sale by helicopter. The final island he saw was Necker Island, and after climbing the hill and being stunned by the view and wildlife, fell in love with the island. After making a lowball
Lowball
Lowball is an early type of railway signal indicating danger/stop. The ball signal was a light or indicator suspended from a rope, that could move upwards and downwards, held by a weighted ball...
bid of £100,000 for the £5 million island, however, he was turned down and evicted from the island. A while later, the owner, Lord Cobham
Viscount Cobham
Viscount Cobham is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1718 for Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Baron Cobham and 4th Baronet, of Stowe...
, in need of short-term capital, eventually settled for £180,000 after Richard Branson had offered his final price of £175,000 three months before the actual sale took place. However, the Government imposed a relatively common restriction on alien landholders; that the new owner had to develop a resort within five years or the island would revert to the state. Branson committed, determined to build a resort on his tropical dream island, notwithstanding his relatively modest capital at that time in his career.
When Branson bought the 74 acres (299,467.6 m²) island, it was uninhabited. He purchased the island at the age of 28, just six years after starting Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
. It took 3 years and approximately US$10 million to turn it into a private island retreat. Using local stone, Brazilian hardwoods, antiques, art pieces and fabrics and bamboo furniture from Bali the architects and designers created a 10 bedroom Balinese-style villa crowning a hill above the beach. Each of the 10 bedrooms has open walls giving a 360-degree view and cooling winds from any direction in the house. The island has accommodation for 28 people and rents out at US$53,000 to $54,000 a day. All that includes two "private" beaches, private pools, tennis courts, breathtaking views, a personal chef, a team of about 60 staff and a wide array of water sports equipment.
The island is available for weddings, relaxation breaks, sports vacations and even complete rentals for any purpose. One of the high profile recent guests is Larry Page
Larry Page
Lawrence "Larry" Page is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. As of April 4, 2011, he is also the chief executive of Google, as announced on January 20, 2011...
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's billionaire co-founder, who married his girlfriend, Lucy Southworth, on the island in early December 2007. Page rented a majority of Virgin Gorda as well, as Necker was far too small to fit his 600+ guest party.
In the early hours of Monday, August 22, 2011, The Great House, as it was called, burned down in a fire believed to be caused by lightning from Tropical Storm Irene. The house was occupied at the time by as many as 20 guests, with Branson himself staying in a residence nearby. All 20 of the guests escaped unhurt from the burning house, which was said to have been totally destroyed, according to Branson. Among the 20 occupants were actress Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
, along with Sir Richard's 90-year-old mother Eve and his 29-year-old daughter Holly, when the blaze broke out in the early hours of the morning.
Privacy
Although the land on the island is entirely privately owned, under British Virgin Islands law, all beaches up to the high water markHigh water mark
High water mark may refer to:*Ordinary high water mark, a landscape marking such as floodwater staining left by the highest level of water...
are Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
, and are open to the public. In practice, the security personnel which accompany guests to Necker Island are known for making it difficult for ordinary members of the public to enjoy the beaches, particularly when high profile guests are in residence. On one of the occasions when Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
stayed at the resort, security personnel kept a 150 metre perimeter around the island, within which the public were excluded.
When the island was being purchased, environmentalists expressed concerns that Necker Island was one of the relatively few places in the world that a rare species of gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
, the Virgin Islands dwarf gecko, lives and breeds. When Branson was granted an alien land-holder's licence to enable him to purchase the island, it was made conditional upon Branson's agreement that any legitimate scientific expedition to study the geckos should have full and unfettered access to the island.
Sir Richard Branson's official residency and tax status is reliant on his declaration that he lives on this island.