Private Scottish island with ruined castle goes on sale for US$7.5 million

View of Shuna Island, Scotland. (Island of Shuna)

An entire Scottish island complete with a ruined castle is up for sale for the princely sum of £5.5 million (US$7.48 million).

Shuna Island, which sits just off the west coast of Scotland, is being sold for the first time in 80 years, according to listings from estate agents Knight Frank and Sotheby’s International Realty.

Tom Stewart-Moore, a partner at the Knight Frank office in Edinburgh, told CNN that a number of Scottish islands are sold each year, but Shuna stands out for its size at 1,100 acres.

“This certainly stands above the rest,” he said on Tuesday. “It feels like something of scale.”

And while Scotland has a plethora of small private islands that could serve as boltholes for the ultra-wealthy, most are very hard to get to.

Not so for Shuna Island, according to Stewart-Moore, who highlighted the island’s relative accessibility: it is just a 30-minute helicopter flight from Glasgow Airport.

“It is very accessible, that is actually very key,” said Stewart-Moore.

The island is currently home to eight residential properties, seven of which are used as holiday lets, as well as the ruins of a castle built in the early 20th century by former owner George Buckley, a soldier and adventurer from New Zealand.

The castle is “in an unbelievable position,” said Stewart-Moore.

“The views really are breathtaking,” he said, adding that the ruins could be redeveloped by the new owners into a new principal residence, dependent on planning permission.

The island is home to a mixture of native woodland, rough grazing and parkland, he added, as well as boasting both rocky shorelines and sandy beaches.

It is also home to various hills that offer “amazing aspects looking in all directions,” he said.

As for potential buyers, Stewart-Moore identified two main groups: those who see the island as a “trophy asset” where they can spend time in complete privacy, and those who would look to develop its potential for holiday lets, ecotourism or sporting retreats.

“The opportunities are relatively wide on this one,” he said.

Shuna Island has been on the market for less than two weeks and has already drawn significant interest from potential buyers from around the world, said Stewart-Moore.

By Jack Guy, CNN