Most people dream of owning their own island, a piece of tranquil heaven to truly call their own. For the majority of people however, this will always remain just that: a dream. On the flipside, there is a definite island-buying trend growing amongst those lucky enough to be able to afford such a residence, from movie stars through to politicians, which will one day result in all such people living offshore… or maybe not.

We’ve decided to show you some of the smallest island-based houses and villas currently inhabited around the world in order to prove that such a dream isn’t that unattainable and that your own private island needn’t be the size of London. They’re also incredible places to visit and provide a great opportunity to come back from holiday with some truly unique photographs.

The next time you visit Honduras be sure to pop over to Guanaja, a Bay Island 70km from the shore. The island itself is stunning and worthy of the visit, but the real eye-opener is Dunbar Rock, an absolutely stunning property sitting just off the coast on a rocky island barely large enough to accomodate the building. Within the property are 6 bedrooms, plently for the family and a couple of guests, and rumour has it that dolphins can be spotted from the bedroom windows. If you have a spare US $1'700'000 you may be in luck as Dunbar Rock is currently for sale.

This lovely house sits on a tiny island amongst the 36 larger Les Cheneaux Islands off the south coast of Cedarville, Michigan, a popular destination for boating, sailing and fishing enthusiasts. The property pictured can be found just to the east of Marquette Island and looks to be a perfect spot to relax and take in the surrounding scenery, the house even boasting a stunning watchtower. Truly idyllic.

Sitting majestically just off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island is a beautiful mansion by the name of Clingstone - a name which makes sense as soon as the property is seen. The water-bound mansion is home to an incredible 23 rooms spread over 3 storeys and when bought by current owner Henry Wood in 1961 cost a very reasonable US $3'600, although the house wasn’t in such a pleasing state at the time after having been abandoned for over 20 years. We think you’ll agree that the restoration was a huge success.

We’ve searched high and low to find the world’s smallest island-house and it seems clear, to us at least, that the winner has to be Just Room Enough, this extremely cute and picturesque residence which can be found amongst the 1000 Islands on the St. Lawrence River, one of the world’s most beautiful collection of islands. Apparently the island is such a tight fit that the outdoor furniture can only be placed out front when passing boat traffic is minimal. Where the boat is kept is anyone’s guess.

Las Isletas is an archipelago contained within Nicaragua’s Lake Cocibolca, Central America’s largest lake, and consists of 365 seperate islands. In recent years locals have seen a huge increase in the number of these Isletas being snapped up by island-hunting visitors intent on setting up their dream home but a large number of the smaller islands, such as the gorgeous example seen in the photograph above, are still inhabited by local fishermen.

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