Blame it on Marlon Brando.
When the late actor bought an island in Polynesia in 1965 he started a trend. Suddenly you didn't have to be royalty or a Greek shipping magnate to own an island paradise.
Today, private islands are a cottage industry, complete with magazines, blogs and agents specialising in such properties. Sales and listings create worldwide buzz, especially when a celebrity is involved.
Only about 800 islands around the world are available for private sale, according to industry estimates. Prices vary widely, and it is often difficult to track true ownership.
But with supply limited, some islands immediately attract attention when they come on the market, which is why a new listing for three small islands off the coast of Italy, near Positano and Capri, is sure to generate speculation and interest.
The pedigree of Li Galli Islands dates to Greek mythology, and there are Roman ruins on the largest island. The islands have had only three owners, including the late Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, in modern times.
The main island, which has reportedly hosted film stars such as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Anna Magnani and Sophia Loren as well as Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the assassinated US president John F Kennedy, features three villas, a private grotto, a desalination and power plant and a heli-pad.
The €195 million (Dh989.5m) price tag includes the Villa Tre Ville, a 2,900-square-metre estate on the mainland once owned by the director Franco Zeffirelli. The villa features 19 suites, two kitchens and accommodation for 17 staff members.
The islands and the villa have been on the market for a month and generated interest from private family trusts in eastern Europe, Asia and some Middle East family offices based in Geneva,says Christine Ngan, the executive vice president of the Paris-based Triangle Capital, which is marketing the property.
"Given the response and the fact it has only traded hands three times in the last 110 years, we believe a new owner will be on board prior to the beginning of summer," she said.
kbrass@thenational.ae
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The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
