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In Sir Richard Branson's Words

The Island

Necker Island is a small rocky landmass at the north-eastern extremity of a chain of islands, lapped by the sky-blue Caribbean Sea, which all together comprise the British Virgin Islands.

Almost completely encircled by coral reefs, it is relatively isolated and seldom visited, even by the numerous charter boats that cruise around the area.

The island is marked by scenic contrast. Beautiful sandy beaches punctuate jutting headlands and cactus-studded ridges top panoramic hillsides. Beneath the clear, pristine waters, the reefs are alive with fantastically varied colours and shapes.

Necker seems to have been permanently uninhabited, as pre-Columbian artifacts found on neighbouring islands have never been discovered here. Only a few goats were to be seen when I bought the island.

The Construction

I wanted to build a home there that could be used by my family and friends for holidays, while keeping the island as unspoiled as possible

We began construction on the house in 1982. Our chosen site was 'Devil's Hill', which has fantastic views of the island and its surroundings. It took six months to blast the top off! Everything had to be brought in by boat - diggers, trucks, manpower, water - and I began to see why the survival team only lasted 14 days!

I wanted the house designed in an airy Balinese style and I also wanted the house to become the apex of Devil's Hill, as if it grew out of the rock.

In the early stages of construction one of the first steps was to carry out an environmental study to determine the extent and type of development the island could support without destroying the natural ecosystem.

Where possible, we use natural materials from the island in construction - the main walls of the house are built from stone removed from the top of the hill, and much of the timber is locally grown. However, with a project of this scale, a great deal of the fabric of the house had to be imported - the roof was first assembled in Brazil, taken apart again, shipped over and then rebuilt. The flooring throughout came from Yorkshire and the majority of the furniture and fabrics were handmade in Bali and transported halfway around the world.

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