Melody Island
Melody Island is a small private island off Wolfeboro, and it has a story no other address on Lake Winnipesaukee can match. For fifteen summers it was a music school, then the home of the New Hampshire Music Festival, with concerts played from a bandshell in the trees to an audience floating offshore in boats and canoes.
Today it is a quiet island of private homes. The music camp was divided into lots after a 1961 sale, and those lots were first brought to market by C.M. Mixer Inc., the firm that became Yankee Pedlar Realtors. So we have been selling Melody Island for more than sixty years.
For a buyer, Melody is one of the more sought-after island addresses on the lake, and listings are few. The figures at the top of this page update with the feed, so they show exactly what is on the market today.
From Mud Island to Little Tanglewood
For most of its recorded history the island was Big Mud Island, also listed as Varney Island and Varney Island No. 1. In December 1896 woodcutter William Fox and his crew were out there keeping a boat channel open through the ice so they could harvest timber. In 1903 the whole island was assessed at $200, owned by Charles B. Fox, and the 1938 hurricane overturned a boathouse belonging to E. M. Fifield.
On July 10, 1946, Hedy Spielter and Jean "Jules" Epailly bought most of the island and turned it into a music school. By the summer of 1947 students were studying there, in a camp of at least 16 small bunkhouses, a boathouse, a combined dining and music building, and a number of pianos hauled out onto the island. They renamed it Melody Island, and Epailly took the name seriously enough that a local, Nat Goodhue, made a habit of calling it Mud Island just to tease him. Spielter taught piano and also bought the supplies and cooked for the whole community.
The New Hampshire Music Festival grew out of the school and was founded in 1952. By 1953 the Granite State News was calling the island "Little Tanglewood." At the height of the season about 42 musicians lived there, crossing to shore on a boat called the Go-Go, and by 1956 they were giving free Sunday-evening chamber concerts to listeners gathered in boats just offshore. The conductor Leopold Stokowski visited in 1955, and several musicians who managed to audition for him during his stay went on to work with him in Houston.
The camp's run ended with a September 1961 sale, when the island was surveyed into lots. A 1962 C.M. Mixer advertisement offered the remaining lots at $4,000 each, with electricity and telephone already on the island. The festival carried on and grew, and for its 70th season in 2022 it staged a brass concert on a pontoon boat on Squam Lake, a nod to the floating audiences of Melody Island.
Condensed from our own history of the island, which draws on local newspaper accounts, a 1993 recollection by John Bridges, and a 1962 C.M. Mixer Inc. advertisement from our own archives.
Read the full story of Melody IslandFor Sale on Melody Island
Hover a marker for the listing, or tap on a phone. Use the Depth toggle to see the water around Melody Island.
The MLS record shows 5 sales on Melody Island, 1 in the last five years, with recent home sales averaging $1,495,000. You can also search Melody Island in the full listings browse.
Recently Sold on Melody Island
Islands trade rarely enough that what has actually sold tells you more than what happens to be listed today. These are the recorded sales on Melody Island over the last 5 years, newest first, at their closing prices.
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.
Getting There
Melody Island is boat access only, with no bridge or causeway, and Wolfeboro is its mainland side. As on every island out here, owners keep a boat plus a slip, mooring, or dock on the mainland and somewhere to leave a car. That arrangement is worth sorting out before you buy rather than after, and it is something we walk buyers through.
The island has had electricity and telephone service since at least 1962, when the first lots were sold. What any individual property has for power, water, and septic still needs checking house by house.
The island is private, with no public dock, beach, or trail. If you are not staying at or visiting a property there, it is best enjoyed from the water.
Looking for a slip or mooring on the mainland side? See boat slips, marinas, and launches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Big Mud Island, and it also appears in old records as Varney Island and Varney Island No. 1. Hedy Spielter and Jean "Jules" Epailly renamed it Melody Island after they bought it in 1946 and opened their music school there.
The festival started there. Spielter and Epailly ran a music school on the island from 1947, and the New Hampshire Music Festival grew out of it and was founded in 1952. By 1953 the local paper was calling the island "Little Tanglewood," and by 1956 there were free Sunday-evening chamber concerts played to an audience floating offshore in boats and canoes.
Yes. The conductor Leopold Stokowski visited in 1955. Musicians took the chance to audition for him during his stay, and several of them went on to work with him in Houston.
After a September 1961 sale, when the island was surveyed and divided into lots. A 1962 advertisement from C.M. Mixer Inc., the firm that became Yankee Pedlar Realtors, offered the remaining lots at $4,000 each, with electricity and telephone already in place.
By boat only. There is no bridge, and Wolfeboro is the mainland side. Owners keep a boat along with a slip, mooring, or dock on the mainland and somewhere to leave a car.
No. It is a private island of homes with no public dock, beach, or trail, so plan to enjoy it from the water unless you are staying at or visiting a property there.
Island lots that sold for $4,000 in 1962 now trade well above a million dollars, and listings are few. The live listings and sales figures on this page come straight from the feed and show exactly what is available now. If nothing is, tell us you are watching Melody and we will call you when something moves.
Not on Melody itself. The one home we rent on an island is on Cow Island in Tuftonboro, and it is the closest you can get to trying the boat-access life for a week before committing to a deed.
New to island buying? Start with our island guide and the NH buyer's guide.
Watching Melody 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.