Reeling from a divorce Anna Scaife was looking for a new home that would provide not simply a roof over her head but a place where she could heal.
She found it on Taggs Island, a six-acre island on the River Thames near Hampton.
In 2018 Scaife moved from the family home in Earlsfield to Half Mile, a three-bedroom houseboat, with her children Wilbur, 14, Buzz, 13, Esme, ten, and the family dog Chase, a whippet.
See also: My houseboat hell – why living on the canal isn’t for everyone
Living on the water as part of a tight-knit island community has done its job. And now Scaife feels ready to return to dry land.
Half Mile is is on sale with estate agent Walker Hall, priced at £800,000.
“We had been through a very tumultuous time,” says Scaife, 47, founder of Anna Lou Jewellery and a wellness and leadership coach.
“I just wanted an adventure, and to give the children some kind of magic.”
She bought the boat in 2018, seduced by its value for money compared to homes on dry land, the fact that it had a separate studio she could work from home in, and the promise of a completely different lifestyle.
“It has been like something out of a fairy tale,” says Scaife. “My oldest son loved fishing, and he could fish out of his bedroom.
“We had paddle boards and kayaks, and a little black rubber boat with an electric engine which the kids could take themselves off in. We also used to do the school run by boat.
“The community here is amazing. They do coffee mornings and dinner parties, and there is a summer festival, fireworks, and carol singing.”
In 2022 the family was chosen to appear in the Channel 5 show The Big House Clear Out, hosted by Nick Knowles, who helped them to declutter their floating home.
As the children get older, however, Scaife started to feel that the family would be better off on dry land.
The school run to Richmond – where the two older children are now at senior school – is traffic clogged, and the children want to live closer to their friends.
“I have been on a really big healing journey,” says Scaife. “It has been a sanctuary for me to recover. But it has served its purpose.”
Half Mile has three bedrooms, measures around 1,330 sq ft, and comes with a garden and a studio. Its future owner will have to pay a quarterly mooring fee of just under £3,000.
Taggs Island has been inhabited since the 1850s and was a rather fashionable Edwardian holiday destination complete with a luxury hotel (now demolished). Former residents include J M Barrie, author of Peter Pan.
Today around 100 people live on the island, in houseboats clustered around its perimeter or around the lagoon at its centre.
Access is via road bridge, Hampton Court Station is a mile from the island, and central London is just 13 miles away.
