Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)

Location

Necker Island is located at latitude 18.55 north and longitude 64.35 west in the eastern section of the British Virgin Islands. It is about 5.9 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Virgin Gorda and north-east of Prickly Pear Island and also Mosquito Island (sometimes spelled Moskito Island),which is also owned by Branson. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) are a group of islands about 1,815 kilometres (1,128 mi) south-east of Miami, Florida, 184 km (114 mi) due east of San Juan Puerto Rico, and about 175 km (109 mi) north-west of St. Barts.

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 photographer Don McCullin and journalist Andrew Alexander, spent 15 days on the island at the behest of The Daily Telegraph newspaper for which they worked. The magazine editor had hoped that they would survive their castaway 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: "The mosquitos and other insects were more venomous and persistent than any I had encountered in Vietnam or the Congo."

In February 2017, former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visited Necker as guests of Sir Richard.

Land ownership by Richard Branson

Richard Branson first became aware that some of the islands in the British Virgin Islands were for sale in 1978. He promptly went to the British Virgin Islands for a holiday 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, decided to purchase the island. After making a lowball bid of $100,000 for the $6 million island (due to his relatively modest funds at that time in his career), he was turned down and abruptly escorted back to the mainland. A year later, the owner, Lord Cobham, in need of short-term capital, eventually settled for $180,000. However, the government imposed a relatively common restriction on alien landholders: that the new owner had to develop a resort within four years or the island would revert to the state. Branson committed, determined to build a resort on his tropical dream island.

When Branson bought the island, it was uninhabited. He purchased the island at the age of 28, just six years after starting Virgin Group. It took three years and about US$10 million to turn it into a private island retreat. Using local stone, Brazilian hardwoods, Asian antiques, Indian rugs, art pieces and fabrics and bamboo furniture from Bali, architects and designers created a 10-bedroom Balinese-style villa crowning a hill above the beach. Each of the ten bedrooms has open walls, giving a 360-degree view and cooling winds from any direction in the house. The island has accommodation for 30 people and rents out at US$65,000 a day, US$2,167 per person a day. Minus labour expenses, the cost of the entire island could be recouped in a mere four months. The cost of staying includes access to two beaches, private pools, tennis courts, scenic views, a personal chef, a team of about 100 staff and a wide array of water sports equipment. Babysitting is not included.

In the early hours of Monday 22 August 2011, The Great House, as it was called, burned down in a blaze believed to be caused by lightning from Tropical Storm Irene. At the time the house was occupied by as many as twenty guests, with Branson himself staying in a residence nearby. All of the guests escaped unhurt from the burning house, which according to Branson was totally destroyed. Among the twenty occupants were actress Kate Winslet, Branson's 90-year-old mother Eve and his 29-year-old daughter Holly. The Great House was subsequently rebuilt with an expanded Great Room in a style strongly reminiscent of that lost to the fire.

The Necker Cup, an exhibition tennis tournament held at the end of the tennis season, has been held on the island annually since 2012.

Privacy and access

Although the land on the island is entirely privately owned, under British Virgin Islands law, all beaches up to the high-water mark are Crown land, and are open to the public.