Just west of Key West sits the crown jewel of the Florida Keys. Ballast Key is the most exceptional piece of island real estate available for purchase in all of North America.
The beauty of the surrounding waters will take your breath away and the unsurpassed fishing will put a smile on your face.
Margaritaville is an imaginary place dreamed up by Jimmy Buffet, a fantasy where life is easy, the weather and the fishing are good and the main recreation is drinking Margaritas and watching the sunsets. Well, that fantasy has finally become reality, and you have the unique opportunity to purchase the epitome of the Margaritaville lifestyle.
After almost 50 years with the same famous owner, this private key is now offered for sale. Your dream of owning a romantic tropical island getaway can become a reality.
This is the ONLY privately owned island in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, a stunning natural paradise and a haven to hundreds of rare birds, surrounded by pristine coral reefs.
Ballast Key offers the ultimate in accessible seclusion. All that privacy is just a short boat ride from Key West harbor.
“David, it’s James Bond.”
“Oh, how nice of you to call, James. Where are you?”
“On your island. I’ve just broken into your house.”
That scene is from a James Bond novel, “License to Kill” by John Gardner in which the owner and this island make a cameo appearance. How often can you buy an island featured in James Bond? Perfect for evil geniuses bent on world domination.
The island has been the private retreat of a Key West celebrity for over 50 years. He is now getting on in years and has decided to sell.
“I’ve never felt like I own this island,” he says. “I feel like I’m just borrowing it for a while.”
During those 50 years, the island has been the haunt of the Who’s Who visiting nearby Key West.
Jimmy Buffet, who with his private seaplane knows every speck of the area, visited the island many times and wrote about it in one of his books. He also filmed his video, “Back to the Island” there.
The most famous guest of the island was Tennessee Williams who liked to escape the hubbub of Key West by going to the Key. The owner of the island was a pallbearer at Williams’ funeral.
“It was a refuge for him to escape the big city life of Key West. He would bring a bottle of red wine, paint and listen to Billie Holiday,” said the owner. “I found him to be very alive, very honest and very vulnerable. He could feel quite anonymous here.”
Williams lured other famous friends to the island such as Truman Capote, Lillian Hellman, Carson McCullers, British actress Jean Marsh, and Dick Cavett. All enjoyed the beauty and privacy of this Robinson Crusoe-style getaway just a few miles from the shores of Key West.
This island main house features four bedrooms and a master suite with both sunrise and sunset views.
Your guests will be right at home in a fully equipped three bedroom guesthouse complete with porches overlooking their own palm tree lined beach.
A local caretaker attends to every need and golf carts cruise you along the island’s sea oat lined trails. Water is supplied by desalinization. There is a satellite hookup for phone and internet.
It is a hauntingly beautiful island. You can go spear fishing and lobstering in the tidal channel on the Eastern side, swim with rays, nurse sharks, and watch great white herons silhouetted against unbelievable sunsets.
A cool ocean breeze and the sounds of rustling of palm trees and rolling breakers signal a new day at Ballast Key. White herons walk along the tide line hunting for breakfast. From the main home’s master bedroom, witness brown pelicans diving into a school fo fish just beyond the surf break.
Key West National Wildlife Refuge was established n 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife. These Keys are west of Key West and east of the Marquesas Keys. This refuge was the first established in the Florida Keys and one of the earliest refuges in the United States. The refuge encompasses more than 200,000 acres with only 2,000 acres of land. The area is home to more than 250 species of birds and is important for sea turtle nesting. The islands are predominately mangrove with a few beaches and salt ponds.
Refuge includes mostly mangrove islands, with a few sandy beaches and dunes that are critical nesting habitat for endangered sea turtles. Other habitat includes saltmarsh and coastal berm hammocks, plus sea grass and coral reef communities. Refuge, along with the Great White Heron Refuge, represents the last of the offshore (and raccoon-free) islands in the lower Florida Keys available as critical nesting, roosting, wading and loafing habitat to over 250 avian species—particularly wading birds. The area managed is overwhelmingly (99 percent) marine environment including large sand flats surrounding the islands that are used extensively by foraging wading birds.
The waters around the island and flats are prime locations for fishing, snorkeling, and wildlife viewing. People travel from all over the world to visit this area.
Note—The U.S. Government has placed most of this area off limits. You are even forbidden from anchoring off Man and Woman Keys in the sand-even if you don’t go ashore. Ballast Key is private and landing is forbidden to the public as well. Anchoring off the South part of Boca Grande is forbidden as well-only on the NW portion.
This 26 acre island is a short boat ride from Key West Harbor. The location is only 9 miles off of the coast of Key West.
Ballast Key is the true southernmost point in the continental United States.
Currently offered at $9,400,000.
Please contact Ray and Eileen Jensen, Coldwell Banker Schmitt, for more information and/or photos. (305) 849-0387