You won’t find this quiet little island labeled on most maps.
The 47-acre speck of land is privately owned and doesn’t welcome strangers or publicity. Outsiders rarely get a chance to see its lodges, marinas, manicured lawns, tennis courts or sunset views.
But that could change.
Rattlesnake Island, one of the Lake Erie islands off Port Clinton, is up for sale. It could be yours for $3 million or so.
The owner, RI Resort Properties Inc., plans to auction the island Oct. 10 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cleveland.
“I would describe it as being the most exclusive private resort on Lake Erie,” said Lucius B. McKelvey, a member of the ownership group and president of Smythe Cramer Co., the real estate company. “It’s one of a kind, like a rare oil painting or a rare jewel.”
The owners say they are auctioning the island, rather than trying to sell it privately, as a way to generate the most interest in the shortest time.
RI Resort Properties bought the island nine years ago for $3.4 million, according to Ottawa County records. McKelvey says the group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements, including a new lighthouse, a wastewater treatment plant, sewer lines and a manager’s house.
“We love the island,” McKelvey said. “It’s been a marvelous experience and a labor of love. But it’s simply time for us to move on to other interests.”
The ownership group said it would sell the island for a minimum bid of $2.775 million. The price is meant to show the group is serious about selling.
The company handling the auction, Dutton Auction & Realty Co. of Navarre, Ohio, has received more than 30 inquiries in recent weeks.
“It’s not that often you get a chance to buy an island,” said owner Joel Dutton.
Interested bidders must pay $200 for a packet of information and sign a confidentiality statement. The island is open for inspection by appointment only, and only after a prospective bidder has passed a financial screening.
Rattlesnake Island is located about 1 1/2 miles northwest of the Put-in-Bay resort on South Bass Island. But the two islands couldn’t be more distinct.
While Put-in-Bay is known for its waterfront restaurants and noisy nightclubs, Rattlesnake Island is known as a quiet, exclusive resort for the rich and famous. That is, when it’s known at all.
“We don’t get a lot of inquiries about it,” said Jennifer Zelms, marketing manager for the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau. “It’s very private. A lot of people don’t even know it’s there.”
Rattlesnake Island is easy to miss. It’s one of the smallest islands in the area, a fraction of the size of any of its neighbors: South Bass, Middle Bass, North Bass or Kelleys islands.
In fact, the island is so compact, you could fit it inside nearby Cedar Point amusement park seven times over.
But size isn’t the issue. Rattlesnake Island’s biggest selling point is its unspoiled privacy, a rare commodity on the popular Lake Erie islands.
The owners recently allowed a group of reporters and photographers to visit the island to help generate publicity. But the tour guide whisked the group behind buildings whenever club members and their guests came down the road on a golf cart. The guide pointed out that members pay a large amount of money to belong and “don’t like to see a lot of strangers.”
Rattlesnake Island Club has between 60 and 70 members, and uses the island mostly for members and guests. The club does not publish a list of members, nor does it discuss membership fees.
The club also lets some companies use the island for meetings and retreats.
The island is a haven of peace and quiet. Seagulls and bobwhites outnumber people. Cool, fresh air blows almost constantly across the shoreline.
The view, too, is spectacular, with water slapping the rocky shore, and the grounds filled with well-tended shrubs, trees and flowers. A nature trail winds through the woods.
However, on a clear day, you can also see the huge cooling towers of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant on the mainland. Ore boats and pleasure boats are visible in the distance.
The island is no Robinson Crusoe hardship location. It’s fully equipped with electricity, telephones, water and sewage service.
One end of the oblong island contains most of the club facilities, including a clubhouse with pool, a conference center and a restaurant. This end also has outdoor tennis courts, a miniature golf course, horseshoe pits, bocce court, penthouse marina and a lighthouse.
Club members and guests can stay overnight in one of four lodges. Most of the 27 bedrooms have views of the lake.
The other end of the island–about a 15-minute walk, or two minutes by golf cart–is home to a second marina, the manager’s house and two dormitories, where a staff of 20 lives during the season.
“It’s a beautiful place to work,” said Mara Hanna of Berea, a sophomore at Columbus State Community College, who has worked at Rattlesnake Island for five summers, most recently as a housekeeper, cook and bartender.
In between the two ends of the island, a large clearing serves double duty as a five-hole golf course and a landing field for small airplanes.
The island also has five private, waterfront residential lots, which are not included in the sale. Three of the lots have houses on them.
The new owner would be free to continue running the island as a club, or could develop single-family homes in accordance with the plot plan approved by Ottawa County.
Despite its name, the island has no rattlesnakes. It was named by Indians of the Ottawa tribe. Local historians say the name reflects the possibility that it might have once had rattlesnakes, or that it is shaped somewhat like a rattlesnake.
