Featured Image Credit: Bespoke Real Estate
Some residences are remembered for all the wrong reasons, like 1428 Elm Street, Camp Crystal Lake, and The Overlook Hotel. However, while all of the above are fictional locations from horror movies, there are plenty of real-life places that are marked on the map due to their own macabre legacy.
Alongside Hitler's Führerbunker, 10050 Cielo Drive, where Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by the Manson Family, and Josef Fritzl's Amstetten bunker, Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean island will be forever remembered in the history books of dark tourism.
While there's no denying the picturesque backdrop of Little Saint James, it's not the kind of place we'd imagine many people would want to visit because of the many crimes that reportedly went down there. Still, that hasn't stopped one major internet personality from once mulling over the idea of buying the infamous Epstein Island.
Serving as the shamed financier's base of operations, Little Saint James welcomed a number of high-profile guests, and although they can't be linked to the underage sex trafficking that happened there, there's still a dark cloud hanging over the island.
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Owned by Jeffrey Epstein from 1998 until his death in 2019, Little Saint James has earned the unwelcome moniker of 'Pedophile Island' from the locals. In the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Joe Rogan discussed all things Epstein. As well as mocking President Donald Trump about his apparent U-turn on releasing the files, the political podcaster confirmed that he once looked at buying Little Saint James.
Talking about Epstein Island with comedian Brian Simpson, Rogan explained: "We looked at that island. We were trying to buy it. We were actually — I shouldn’t say we were trying to buy it, we were thinking about it very briefly... But it was too expensive. It was like 55 [million]."
A shocked Simpson replied: "What? It’s not discounted now?”
Rogan clarified that $55 million was with the discount.
As for Epstein Island, a criminal complaint from the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands referred to it as “the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault."
The complaint continued: “Epstein and his associates could avoid detection of their illegal activity from Virgin Islands and federal law enforcement, and prevent these young women and underage girls from leaving freely and escaping the abuse.”
Venture capitalist Arch Cummin put Little Saint James up for sale in 1997 for $10.5 million, with Epstein reportedly buying it for a cool $7.95 million. He made numerous additions over the years, including a renovation of the main house by Edward Tuttle, a gold-domed temple, and cables that eliminated the need for generators.
Following Epstein's death, Little Saint James and the neighboring Great Saint James were listed at $125 million, with a lawyer for his estate reiterating that the money generated from the sale would be used to settle some of the financier's lawsuits.
With a mass of interest from the media and the general public, Bespoke Real Estate confirmed that further details about the property would only be made available to potential buyers. Even though Rogan suggested Little Saint James was a little out of his budget, billionaire investor Stephen Deckoff signed over $60 million for both islands in 2023.
