Escape to this private island with an abandoned castle — it’s only an hour from NYC and you can take the train

Private island, 6.5 acres of complete solitude in the middle of the Hudson River — majestic water and mountain views from your own historic castle, convenient to Midtown via Metro-North, bring your contractor!

Right, so maybe one of the most dramatically situated pieces of real estate within commuting distance of NYC isn’t for sale, and definitely don’t upset any development-averse locals by bringing your contractor, but don’t let that stop you from from visiting and appreciating Bannerman Castle — jewel-in-the-rough of New York’s Hudson Highlands region — anytime you like.

Best of all, you don’t even have to get in a car.

Linked to the heart of the Big Apple via Metro-North’s Hudson Line, all year long — that and a boat shuttle departing the docks near the Beacon train station — this architectural oddity, over a century old, remains the focal point of life on little Pollepel Island all these years later.

For such a small landmass, Pollepel has enjoyed a varied and colorful history, earning its stripes as a strategic site for holding the British back (at least for a time) during the Revolutionary War. In more modern times, it became a storehouse for a military surplus dealer based in Brooklyn, an immigrant from the British Isles named Francis Bannerman.

The remnants of that structure are what Hudson Valley residents now refer to as “the castle.”