In 2001, Bear Grylls bought his wife, Shara Grylls, a 20-acre private island and a houseboat for USD 300,000 and spent four years on repairs on the main cottage

When Bear Grylls and Shara Grylls got married, the two had been looking to call a place their own in London. While they had been looking to set down some roots at the time, the prices of the properties and typical London flats even back in 2001 had been quite high for them to invest that much money right away. However, the TV star landed an opportunity of a lifetime when he got to know of a 20-acre private island off the Welsh coast alongside a houseboat, which had been up for a sale for a while.Here is a look into how the Grylls family managed to score such a cheap home before their move.In 2001, Bear Grylls and Shara Grylls bought out their own private islandThe two got married in 2000 and about a year later had been looking to move into a space to call their own. However, the real estate prices at the time had been quite high and had deterred the couple away from spaces that they had wished to look into.Back in 2021, the two opened up about this time in their lives while talking to The Sunday Times. They shared, “In 2001 we were going to buy a London flat for $288,000, but we bought a houseboat on the Thames [now sold] and the island together, and it cost less than the apartment, so we decided on the path less trodden and an amazing adventure.” The couple bought out the main house for USD 135,000, while the houseboat that came along with it was only priced at USD 145,000.Grylls further shared during the interview at the time: “The island had a 200-year-old lighthouse and two lightkeeper’s cottages, but [the houses] were derelict with no power, no water, no roof, and rats. I remember my first bath sitting in three inches of water pumped from the old tanks we’d cleaned out. There was rubble everywhere and rain coming through, but it was a great moment.” The cottages were then combined to create one space, a single four-bedroom home for the couple and their family.More about Bear Grylls' Welsh private islandThe space is situated about 1.2 km off the coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, near Aberystwyth in North Wales. The island measures about 20 acres and features sea cliffs, rocky terrain, and marine wildlife, including grey seals, dolphins, and seabirds. Since the cottages on the property were not in livable condition, Grylls enlisted the help of some of his friends, and together they all spent around four years making the cottage space into a home. To secure a stable supply of drinking water on the private island, they even had to drill a 350-foot borehole into the rock. Now the space operates on wind turbines, solar panels, and harvested rainwater.While talking to Vanity Fair about the property in 2012, Grylls admitted that the space has its own shine to it, and they also have their friends stay over from time to time. He shared, “It’s as tough as you get, with two-foot-thick old limestone walls that make it cool in summer and warm in winter. But when those gales come in, you can still feel it almost shake, and sea spray reaches the windows despite the 150-foot elevation.” The TV star concluded, “We keep it very private, and generally it’s just Shara and our three children.”The property is also only accessible by boat. During his Sunday Times interview, the star also revealed that they have to put in a lot of effort into getting the supplies ready and up to their property. Not only that but it also took the Grylls family to get permission to build a slipway on the island, which was finalized in three years around 2018. “We have a quad bike and trailer to get supplies up to the house," he added.After a few years, the couple sold off their houseboat and invested in a penthouse home within the converted Battersea Power Station complex, which is now their main area of residence.DISCLAIMER: Figures presented in this article are derived from various public sources and are considered approximate unless explicitly noted. We may include direct input from celebrities or their teams when available. We are open to feedback on toientertainment@timesinternet.in.