With its riverside location, private boat mooring, and alfresco dining deck, Palm Beach on the residents-only Eel Pie Island is the perfect home for party lovers.
The island has an illustrious history of welcoming hedonists. An 8.9-acre river islet on the Thames in Twickenham, some historians maintain that Henry VIII used it for secret romantic assignations.
Its name came from the pies served from an inn on the island to steamship day trippers in the 19th century. Charles Dickens visited at least once, and was enough of a fan that he wrote it into his book Nicholas Nickelby, where a character takes a steamer to Eel Pie Island , "to make merry upon a cold collation, bottled-beer, shrub and shrimps and to dance to the music of a locomotive band.”
The Eel Pie Island Hotel was also built in this period, becoming a ballroom in the Twenties. By the Fifties and Sixties it had become the go-to spot for rock ‘n’ roll enthusiasts looking to get away from disapproving eyes — and hear the hottest new bands.
The Rolling Stones, a teenage David Bowie (then still just Davie Jones), The Who, Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton all played the Eelpiland dance club.
Unlike today’s Ticketmaster-based misery, shows cost only fourpence to cross the footbridge and get a stamp and a passport in lieu of a ticket. Rob Stewart said that setting of for a gig on Eel Pie Island gave him “that palm-tingling sense you were heading somewhere truly exotic”.
It was hard for the police to raid the island, so partygoers could revel in peace. The dance club closed towards the end of the decade, and was taken over by anarchists. By 1970 it was Europe’s largest hippie commune, before the building burned down.
Today, Eel Pie Island is usually only accessible to the 120 people that live there, many of them artists. At £3.25 million with Dexters, the six-bedroom Palm Beach house could be your ticked to island life.
“Only accessible by boat or footbridge, and closed to members of the public except for select days of the year, Eel Pie Island is extremely sought after by those looking for the ultimate in London waterside luxury,” said Barry McCarthy, board director at Dexters, Twickenham branch.
“Palm Beach is a true hedonistic hideaway, with six bedrooms, a swimming pool, a private mooring and two immaculate garden buildings, with wonderful riverside walks and a glamorous, bohemian vibe,” he added. “It’s one of south west London’s best kept secrets.”
The brick and timber-clad house has wooden floors and a 32-foot kitchen/diner. Bifold doors lead out from the family room, which is lit by a skylight, to the rear garden and outdoor swimming pool.
Three of the upstairs bedrooms open onto a sunny roof terrace that overlooks the front garden, which leads down to the private mooring. A decked area currently used for outdoor dining has a front row view of the Thames.
There are two separate buildings included on the plot, currently housing a gum and an annexe, with potential to be converted into an art studio.
