You know what this island is made for? Childhood adventure stories. Deserted in the turquoise Caribbean sea with a creepy abandoned castle, mermaid caves and mysterious tales of World War II German submarines– it’s Tintin meets Jack Sparrow; a place to let your imagination run riot … for $39,000,000.
Darby Island in the Bahamas, part of a chain of over 300 islands within the Exuma Cays. It’s been on and off the real estate market for a few years now, boasting 554 acres of paradise, 14 beaches, a disused air strip and a fair amount of strange history attached.
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.”
Current owner and Palmetto Bay resident Rick Davis says, “There are still giant poured concrete moorings… Nobody knows why they’re there but I believe it was for the submarines.” Some of the employees that once worked on the plantation reportedly also saw an elaborate radio and telegraph station inside the house.
The abandoned building is apparently still stuffed with mahogany floors and original furniture too.
Unless the locals invented the persona of Sir Guy Baxter entirely, I do find it odd that I can’t find any historical records of him online. For the ruler of what was supposedly one of the largest and most productive plantations in the islands at that time, you would think there might be some sort of clue to his existence.
So what became of Sir Guy Baxter? Was he stripped of his title after the war? Or did the captain of a Nazi U-Boat betray him? It seems to me that along with its white sandy beaches, Darby Island also comes with plenty of writer’s gold.
Enquiries about Darby Island here.
