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London’s commuter towns have really been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with the Telegraph crowning its top commuter village for the capital for 2025 and the Times naming 11 towns and cities near London among its top places to live right now. And now a very special property has hit the market that is within commuting distance of London.
The property is Osea Island in Essex, which is about 40 miles from central London. While we say Osea is ‘within commuting distance’ of the capital, that’s hardly its main selling point. Spread over 380 acres (1.5 square kilometres), it’s an entire private island with a rich, storied history and buckets of luxurious amenities.
Osea Island sits in the estuary of the River Blackwater (near Maldon) and it’s been put on the market by estate agents Knight Frank and Fine & Country. Accessible via an ancient Roman causeway, it bears traces of Norman and Viking civilisations and throughout history it’s been used as a naval base, rehabilitation centre, filming location and, most recently, a recording studio. Stormzy and Rihanna have both rented out facilities on Osea, which since 2004 has been owned by record producer Nigel Frieda.
The island’s 38 properties boast a total of 90 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms, with the homes ranging from an Edwardian manor to an orphanage which has been converted into luxury flats. Among its many, many amenities, Osea Island also has its own ‘village pub’.
Intrigued? Here are some more pictures of the place.
The island is 40 miles from central London and would be pretty difficult to get to by public transport (likely involving a train, bus and a well-timed walk at low-tide), but, let’s face it, if you’re stumping up 25 big ones you’re unlikely to be a user of trains and buses. Osea is about an hour and 40 minutes from the capital by car (vehicles can cross the aforementioned causeway at low tide) and far quicker, we imagine, by helicopter.
The price for all this, obviously, ain’t cheap. Osea Island is on the market for a whopping £25 million, which isn’t just expensive – that’s jaw-droppingly, rub-yer-eyes-in-disbelief spenny. You find out more about the place on the Knight Frank and Fine & Country websites.
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