Owning a private island sounds wonderfully uncomplicated right up until the practical questions begin. Where does the car go? How do groceries make it across? And does every trip home require coordinating with a marina?
Rogers Island, a historic 7.65-acre estate just off the Connecticut shoreline in Branford, comes with a rather convenient answer: its own mainland compound.
The Stony Creek property provides private parking, support space and a dock, putting the island roughly five minutes away by boat while preserving the privacy that makes owning an entire island appealing in the first place.
Now the whole setup is looking for its next owner.
The historic coastal estate has been listed for $29,995,000 with Alicia Hale of Coldwell Banker Realty, offering a 10-bedroom main residence, separate four-bedroom guest house and a surprisingly long list of amenities scattered across its rocky shoreline.
Built in 1902, the main residence originally served as the summer home of financier John Jay Phelps.
More than 120 years later, it remains the architectural centerpiece of the island.
The roughly 8,378-square-foot house has the scale and presence of a proper turn-of-the-century summer estate, with a red tile roof, prominent brick chimneys, half-timbered exterior detailing and a broad mahogany wraparound porch.
And there isn’t much chance of forgetting where the house sits.
Water surrounds the estate in every direction, appearing beyond lawns, gardens and rocky outcroppings throughout the property.
From the main house, the porch provides a sheltered place to take in those views, while the island’s grounds extend outward toward the shoreline.
The main residence alone has 10 bedrooms, along with six full bathrooms and two half baths, making Rogers Island considerably more accommodating than the average private getaway.
But the guest list doesn’t have to stop there.
A separate cottage provides another four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, giving extended family and visitors their own quarters away from the main house. There’s also an artist’s studio with a half bath and dedicated staff accommodations elsewhere on the property.
Altogether, the various buildings turn the island into something closer to a small private compound than a single vacation house.
The grounds are connected by meandering granite pathways, with amenities appearing across different parts of the 7.65 acres rather than being clustered immediately around the main residence.
Among the biggest is a heated in-ground swimming pool set near the water, accompanied by a pool house and separate bath house.
There’s also a full tennis court, while golfers get an amenity that’s considerably harder to squeeze into the typical waterfront backyard: a Nicklaus-designed putting green.
The landscaping adds another layer to the estate, with established lawns, mature trees, gardens, a greenhouse and koi pond occupying the spaces between the buildings and recreation areas.
At the edge of the property, a gazebo sits out toward the rocky shoreline, positioned to capture long views across the surrounding water.
And for an island home, the boating infrastructure is appropriately serious.
Two deep-water docks provide direct access to Long Island Sound, making boating an everyday part of life at Rogers Island rather than something requiring a trip to a nearby marina.
One of those boat rides is particularly useful: the approximately five-minute run back to the estate’s private mainland compound in Stony Creek.
That additional property solves one of the more obvious inconveniences associated with island ownership. Owners and guests can drive to the mainland property, park privately and transfer directly to a boat at their own dock.
It means Rogers Island can remain genuinely secluded without becoming particularly difficult to reach.
From above, the scale of the estate becomes even clearer. The main residence occupies one end of the island amid lawns and mature landscaping, while the pool, gardens, tennis court, putting green, guest accommodations and other structures spread across the remaining acreage, all ringed by rocky Connecticut coastline.
There’s enough here to spend a summer without finding many reasons to leave.
A morning could start on the wraparound porch, move to the tennis court or putting green, continue beside the waterfront pool and finish at the gazebo overlooking the Sound.
Guests can retreat to their own cottage, while the artist’s studio adds another space removed from the main household.
It’s an unusually complete setup for a property that is, quite literally, surrounded by water.
And its history gives the island a character very different from the newly built waterfront compounds commanding similar prices elsewhere along the East Coast.
Rogers Island has been a private summer estate since the early 20th century, and much of its appeal still comes from that old-school idea of escaping to a grand coastal property where an entire family — and plenty of guests — can settle in for the season.
Except this particular summer house happens to occupy its own 7.65-acre island.
And for $29.995 million, the boat ride home comes with the mainland property on the other side.
Rogers Island is listed for $29,995,000 with Alicia Hale of Coldwell Banker Realty.
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