A good trivia question to ask out-of-towners (or even nearby-towners) is "How many islands make up the San Juan Islands?" You might get the the answer "four," presuming San Juan, Orcas, Shaw, and Lopez are it. You might also get an answer like "eight" if they know enough to include Blakely, Decatur, Stuart, and Waldron.
In reality, there are over one hundred islands that make up the archipelago. Most of them are uninhabited or so small you wouldn't know they're there unless you were looking at map, but this place is full of special little places waiting to be discovered by new travelers and homeowners. Or island-owners, as it were.
You may remember Fawn Island when it went on the market around this time last year for $3.9M. The private 2.3-acre island located at the mouth of Deer Harbor on Orcas Island, which was once owned by Gene Hackman, is now back on the market asking $3.48M instead.
The bonus here is that, unlike some of the other primitive islands in the area, this one comes ready to live on with a 3,514 square-foot home built in 1978 (renovated in 2008) as well as two guest homes. Since you can't live on an island without a way to get off it, there's a pier, private dock, and mooring buoy. If you bring your own seaplane you've got yourself a 35-minute ride directly to Seattle whenever you want.
The residence itself boasts a luxury rustic interior (we may have just made that up). The upgrades are most visible in the kitchen and the master bath, which features a glass ceiling shower. Better hope no one takes the seaplane for an overhead ride while you're in there.
· 5936 XXX Fawn Island [Estately]
· Be Like Gene Hackman, Buy Fawn Island For $3.9M [CS]
· Fawn Island [PIO]