Winnipesaukee has 253 islands, and dozens of them carry private homes that trade quietly every season. About 22 island properties change hands in a typical year, and most buyers never hear about them because nobody covers this market. We do. It starts with a boat ride from our side of the lake.
An island place is not a waterfront house with a longer driveway. It is a different way of doing summer, and the people who love it would not trade it for the nicest road-access home on the lake. Here is the honest picture.
You keep a slip or a mooring on the nearest shore, load the groceries at the dock, and run across. For most islands that is a ten or twenty minute ride, and after the first weekend it stops being a logistics problem and becomes the best part of arriving.
Lumber arrives by barge, the mail arrives by mail boat on the islands it serves, and big projects get planned around the calendar and the weather. It is all routine for the builders and barge operators who work this lake, and it is why island homes get kept rather than casually replaced.
No road noise, no headlights sweeping the yard, no drive-by traffic at all. Island communities are small and tend to be tight, many with their own associations, and evenings belong to the loons. That kind of quiet does not exist on the mainland shore at any price.
Every island answers to a mainland town for taxes and permits, and each has its own character and its own market. These are the ones with the most activity, with the sales record to show for it.
Alton
The most active island market on the lake. A long, steep ridge rising out of deep water on the Alton side, with camps tucked along the shoreline and a well-organized owners association.
Tuftonboro
A big, wooded island off Tuftonboro in the Broads, with everything from simple camps to substantial year-round-built homes. We know it well: we rent a home on Cow Island all summer.
Meredith
The largest boat-access island on Winnipesaukee and a summer community since the 1880s, complete with its own chapel and a stop on the mail boat route.
Tuftonboro
Bear Island’s quieter neighbor on the Tuftonboro side. A small circle of well-kept summer places that rarely come up for sale.
Alton
Off West Alton near Rattlesnake, with sweeping views up the Broads. The feed spells it three different ways, which tells you how long the families out there have been writing their own deeds.
Alton
Paired with Little Barndoor off the Alton shore. Classic island camps with sunset water to the west and a steady trickle of sales most years.
Gilford
A small island near Governors with some of the most substantial island homes on the lake. Sales are rare and command a premium when they happen.
Gilford
A short run out of Gilford, big enough for real variety and close enough to the mainland that the boat ride is part of the fun rather than a commitment.
The record also shows sales on Whortleberry Island, Chase Island, Pitchwood Island, Camp Island, Treasure Island, Keniston Island, Diamond Island, Melody Island, Lockes Island, Gansy Island, Little Gansy Island, Badger Island, Dow Island, Hermit Island, Farm Island, Tip Island, Windswept Island, Two Mile Island, Welcome Island, Pine Island, Little Beaver Island, Stonedam Island, Littlest Mud Island, Moose Island, Woodmans Cove Island. If you have your eye on one of them, call us. Small-island sales tend to happen by word of mouth before they happen on the MLS.
Wolfeboro, NH 03894
3 BD | 3 BA | 1,935 sqft | 0.76 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Jen McCullough
Moultonborough, NH 03254
3 BD | 2 BA | 2,682 sqft | 2.9 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
Alton, NH 03810
5 BD | 2 BA | 2,681 sqft | 1.04 acres
Listing by Four Seasons Sotheby's Int'l Realty · Becky Fuller
Alton, NH 03810
3 BD | 1 BA | 1,349 sqft | 0.75 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
Alton, NH 03810
3 BD | 2 BA | 1,536 sqft | 0.79 acres
Listing by KW Coastal and Lakes & Mountains Realty/Wolfeboro · Adam Dow
Alton, NH 03810
2 BD | 1 BA | 850 sqft | 0.73 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
Meredith, NH 03253
0 BD | 1 BA | 1,456 sqft | 0.83 acres
Listing by Coldwell Banker Realty Center Harbor NH · Ellen Mulligan
Gilford, NH 03249
4 BD | 1 BA | 920 sqft | 1.7 acres
Listing by KW Coastal and Lakes & Mountains Realty/Wolfeboro · Adam Dow
Tuftonboro, NH 03254
0 BD | 0 BA | 677 sqft | 0.27 acres
Listing by Four Seasons Sotheby's Int'l Realty · Becky Fuller
Gilford, NH 03249
3 BD | 1 BA | 1,037 sqft | 0.27 acres
Listing by Roche Realty Group · Heidi Kephart
Alton, NH 03810
2 BD | 1 BA | 704 sqft | 0.9 acres
Listing by Four Seasons Sotheby's Int'l Realty · Becky Fuller
Alton, NH 03810
3 BD | 1 BA | 1,248 sqft | 0.66 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Jen McCullough
Tuftonboro, NH 03816
2 BD | 1 BA | 1,147 sqft | 0.85 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Jen McCullough
Gilford, NH 03249
2 BD | 3 BA | 884 sqft | 0.69 acres
Listing by Compass New England, LLC · Brie Stephens
Alton, NH 03810
2 BD | 1 BA | 786 sqft | 1 acres
Listing by Four Seasons Sotheby's Int'l Realty · Becky Fuller
Moultonborough, NH 03254
1.34 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
Moultonborough, NH 03254
2.58 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
Gilford, NH 03249
2.23 acres
Listing by Compass New England, LLC · Brie Stephens
IDX display courtesy of Yankee Pedlar Realtors, Wolfeboro NH.
PrimeMLS Listing Information displayed herein is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by PrimeMLS. This display of listings may or may not be the entire Compilation from the PrimeMLS database, and PrimeMLS does not guarantee the accuracy of such information. © PrimeMLS, Inc.
Listing brokers may report inaccurate data to michelle@yankeepedlarrealtors.com or call (603) 569-1000.
The best way to know whether island life suits you is a week of it: the boat runs, the groceries, the quiet. We rent this island home all summer, Saturday to Saturday, booked personally through our Wolfeboro office.
Over 1,000 feet of shoreline on a private 5.7-acre island point, with a sandy beach and panoramic Winnipesaukee views.
2 bedrooms · 2 baths · sleeps 6 · 2 dock slips
South exposure · Sandy beach
Own an island place that sits empty most of the summer? Island weeks rent, and we handle everything from our side of the lake. Ask us what your island home would rent for.
Long Island, Black Cat Island, Governors Island are true islands on the chart, but each is connected by bridge, so they live like waterfront neighborhoods: cars in the driveway, plows in the winter. We cover them with the rest of the shoreline rather than here. If a bridge is your comfort line, browse waterfront in Moultonborough and Gilford, where all three sit.
Island lots still come up for sale, and island construction happens on this lake every year. It simply moves by barge: materials, equipment, even the concrete truck. The rules are the same NH shoreland and septic rules that govern any waterfront build, applied to a lot you reach by boat, so the design work and the contractor choice matter more than usual.
Start with our town-by-town building guide, then the two chapters island buyers read most: septic systems and shoreline rules.
Yes. Winnipesaukee has 253 islands, and dozens of them carry private homes and camps that trade on the open market. There are 18 island properties on the market right now, and roughly 22 island properties change hands in a typical year. The most active islands are Rattlesnake Island, Cow Island, and Bear Island.
By boat, and that is the whole point. Most island owners keep a boat slip or mooring at a marina or town dock on the nearest shore, run across in ten or twenty minutes, and leave a second cart or workboat at the island dock. Guests learn the route after one trip. A few islands, like Long Island and Black Cat Island, are connected by bridge, but those live like regular waterfront neighborhoods and we treat them that way.
Right now island listings run from $295,000 for buildable land up to $3,999,000 for the most substantial homes. A modest island camp generally costs well under what the same footage brings on the mainland shore, which is exactly why people who mostly want the water, not the driveway, look at islands first.
It varies by island and by property, and it is the first thing to verify on any listing. Many of the larger islands have utility power run to them and others rely on solar and generators. Water is typically drawn from the lake or a drilled well, and waste is handled by a septic system designed for the lot. None of this is exotic, but each system needs to be understood before you offer, and we walk buyers through exactly that.
Yes. Island construction happens every year on Winnipesaukee, it just moves by barge. Materials, equipment, and crews are floated across, which adds cost and planning but is routine for the local builders who do it. The same NH shoreland and septic rules apply as anywhere on the lake, and buildable island lots still come up for sale.
A handful of people do, but the honest answer is that island life on Winnipesaukee is a three-season proposition for nearly everyone. Once the lake ices in, access means waiting for safe ice or not going at all, and most island homes are built and plumbed as seasonal places. Think of an island home as the best summer address on the lake rather than a year-round residence.
Yes, with the right setup and the right expectations. We manage a summer rental program on Lake Winnipesaukee and rent an island home on Cow Island week after week; the renters who choose it are looking for exactly that experience. If you own an island place and want it working for you, talk to us about what it would rent for.
Every island is part of a mainland town for taxes, schools, and permits: Rattlesnake, Sleepers, and the Barndoors are Alton; Cow and Little Bear are Tuftonboro; Bear Island is Meredith; Welch, Mark, and Lockes are Gilford. The MLS record shows sales on 33 different Winnipesaukee islands.
Buying for the first time? Our NH buyer's guide walks the whole process, and Market Pulse tracks the wider Lakes Region market.
Island life still runs through the mainland: the marina, the town dock, dinner ashore. These are the pages island owners and their guests actually use.
The mainland half of island ownership: where to keep the boat, buy a slip, or put in.
The lake itself: 72 square miles, 253 islands, and where the good water is.
An interactive map of the places we send people, for the trips ashore.
Concerts, farmers markets, and the fireworks you will watch from the boat.
The island towns: Alton · Tuftonboro · Meredith · Gilford · Moultonborough · Wolfeboro
We have worked this lake from Wolfeboro since 1940, and the islands are the part of the market where knowing the water matters most. Tell us which island has your attention, or let us tell you which one should.