Big Barndoor Island
Big Barndoor Island is the wooded island you see two miles out from the Wolfeboro town docks: 88 acres of rocky shoreline, private docks, and some of the best sunset water on this end of the lake. About 60 families summer here, and turnover is slow enough that any listing is an event.
The island lives between two towns. Officially it is Alton, which annexed it in 1799 just three years after the town was incorporated, but geographically and culturally it belongs to Wolfeboro Bay, about a five-minute boat ride from the harbor. Its neighbor Little Barndoor is a separate island of about six acres; when anyone says "Barndoor Island," they almost always mean this one.
Before the Cottages, There Were Cows
The island's open ground once made it summer pasture, with livestock ferried over by boat. The best-documented chapter belongs to Ralph Carpenter, then director of New Hampshire Fish and Game, who owned the entire island through the 1940s and 1950s and kept a small herd there for fresh milk. He built a large barn on the south side, by local account framed with timber harvested on the island itself.
When the island was later subdivided into the summer community it is today, the barn was sold and renovated into a summer home, and it still stands in modified form, a quiet architectural footnote to the island's farming past. The name is less settled: one piece of local lore holds that from the right angle on the water, Big and Little Barndoor frame the view of a barn door on the mainland behind them. History or storytelling, it fits the place.
Drawn from Big Barndoor island-community accounts and local Alton and Wolfeboro histories.
Read the full story of Big Barndoor IslandFor Sale on Big Barndoor Island
Hover a marker for the listing, or tap on a phone. Use the Depth toggle to see the water around Big Barndoor Island.
348 Big Barndoor Island
Alton, NH 03810
4 BD | 3 BA | 1,935 sqft | 0.77 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Jen McCullough
230 Big Barndoor Island
Alton, NH 03810
3 BD | 2 BA | 1,536 sqft | 0.79 acres
Listing by KW Coastal and Lakes & Mountains Realty/Wolfeboro · Adam Dow
116 Big Barndoor Island
Alton, NH 03810
2 BD | 1 BA | 850 sqft | 0.73 acres
Listing by Maxfield Real Estate/Wolfeboro · Betty Ann Bickford
The MLS record shows 12 sales on Big Barndoor Island, 4 in the last five years, with recent home sales averaging $909,000. You can also search Big Barndoor Island in the full listings browse.
IDX display courtesy of Yankee Pedlar Realtors, Wolfeboro NH.
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Getting There
Wolfeboro Harbor is the natural jumping-off point, roughly a five-minute run depending on your boat and the conditions, even though the island's mailing address is Alton. The water between Wolfeboro and the Barndoors gets busy in July and August, so keep a current chart handy and give working boats plenty of room.
The island is private, with no public beaches, docks, or trails; its interior walking paths are community amenities. The classic way to appreciate it is a slow loop of the shoreline by boat, ideally in the evening when the southwestern exposure turns the water gold.
Looking for a slip or mooring on the mainland side? See boat slips, marinas, and launches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually, yes. When people say "Barndoor Island" they almost always mean Big Barndoor, the 88-acre island about two miles from Wolfeboro Harbor. Little Barndoor is a separate island of roughly six acres nearby.
Officially Alton, which annexed the island in 1799, even though it sits just off Wolfeboro Bay and is plainly visible from downtown Wolfeboro. For practical purposes, Wolfeboro Harbor is the closest jumping-off point.
No. There is no bridge and no road; access is entirely by boat. Some residents cross on foot over the ice in winter when conditions allow, but that is a local practice, not something to plan around.
No. It is a private residential island with no public beaches, docks, or trails. The best way to experience it is to own or rent a property there, or to cruise its shoreline slowly by boat.
Yes. The island was used for summer cattle grazing, and in the 1940s and 1950s its owner Ralph Carpenter, then director of New Hampshire Fish and Game, kept cows there for fresh milk. The barn he built on the south side was later renovated into a summer residence and still stands.
Turnover is slow and listings command a premium for the privacy, the sunset exposure, and the limited supply, from buildable waterfront lots up to renovated waterfront homes. The live listings on this page show exactly what is available and asking right now.
New to island buying? Start with our island guide and the NH buyer's guide.
Watching Big Barndoor Island?
Island sales often happen by word of mouth before they happen on the MLS. We have worked this lake from Wolfeboro since 1940. Tell us what you are looking for and we will keep you ahead of the listings.