Got $39 million? You could be the new owners of Darby Island in the Bahamas. It comes with 554 acres, 14 beaches, an air strip, and a fairly odd backstory. Oh yeah, and a castle.
Before and during WWII, Darby Island was owned by a rumoured Nazi sympathiser and British hotelier, Sir Guy Baxter. King George of England gifted the island to Baxter upon his knighthood and it served as a lucrative plantation for him with livestock, cotton, palm oil, and more.
In 1938, he built an 8,000 square foot “castle” on the highest point of the island. According to some elderly locals, they remember seeing strange flashing lights during the war coming from the rooftop of the castle. Allegedly, it was discovered that Baxter was guiding German submarines prowling the Atlantic Oceans, allowing them to take refuge in Darby Island’s “exotic network of caves.”
There are other rumors, such as ports for submarines and a radio transmitting station, but the historical record is strangely short on any information about Sir Guy Baxter. The castle and the island are real, though, and on the market. See plenty of pictures at Messy Messy Chic.
The last line of the article: "In this era of Google Earth, an island isn't the best hiding place."
1) That's not Darby Island. Darby Island is southeast of this island.
2) The runway is so overgrown now, it's easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. But the castle is there.
3) David Copperfield's island is a little bit north of this one. He'd be your neighbor.
Wonder how these remote islands deal with electricity. And plumbing. And sewage.