Two Connecticut Private Islands for Sale

Who hasn't dreamed of owning a private island? If you've got a few million to spend, there's not one, but two islands for sale off the Connecticut coast.

Belden Island is listed for $3.95 million and Jepson Island for nearly $2 million, according to the William Pitt Sotheby's web site, which is handling the sale.

The less expensive of the two features just over 1,000 square feet of interior living space in a contemporary-style house. The island itself is about a third of an acre. The description reads: "Jepson Island offers a charming contemporary vacation home with natural materials, walls of glass and incomparable vistas. Stone steps to beach, dock and mooring."

William Pitt Sotheby''s International Realty/Shoreline Aerial Photography/AP

The colonial-style house on Belden Island is about twice the square footage of Jepson and the island itself a little more than an acre in size. "Extraordinary vintage classic offers original wainscoted walls and ceilings, gas lights, fireplaces and wrap around porches overlooking manicured putting green lawn, windswept pines and new dock," the listing reads.

William Pitt Sotheby''s International Realty/Shoreline Aerial Photography/AP

"It has a very original, beautifully preserved 1912 summer house, which is 100 years old this year, with gas lighting and water from the mainland but no electricity. It has all the original bead board and wainscoting, its own little private beach, stone steps cut out of stony creek granite," said Margaret Muir, a real estate agent handling the listings for William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty.

The houses are seasonal and rely on gas lights and solar power. Both are owned by Christine Svenningsen, the widow of a party-goods magnate, said Muir.

"She's been a preservationist, and treated these with great care. She restored them and beautified them," Muir said about Svenningsen.

There are hundreds of Thimble Islands, the island group to which Belden and Jepson belong , but only 25 are inhabitable.

"The story is what she [Svenningsen] has done with her sensitivity to nature and wildlife. She's an artist. It's unusual for someone to have passion to protect and acquire these islands. She does not want any big change or development to happen," said Muir.