Island paradise By Maria Sonnenberg
Unique community offers a slower, more solitude lifestyle
or years, Joe Foster has
had to ferry everything
that comes in and out of his
house — from refrigerators
to kitchen trash — via boat.
For Foster, it’s a small price to pay to
realize the dream of many: to live on
an island.
Foster lives on Vacation Island
Paradise, a tiny horseshoe-sliver of
land with several names. Also known
as Grant Farm Island, or VIP Island,
this unique enclave of 65 homes is
geographically just a five-minute
boat ride from the South Brevard
mainland, but mentally miles from
the routine hassles of life.
A 50-acre part natural, part spoil
island created from dredging of the
Intracoastal Waterway, VIP Island is
one of the few inhabited islands in
Florida accessible only by boat.
First developed in the late 1950s
from what was once a pineapple
plantation, lots were once touted for
$1,995. The few 0.15 acre lots still
around now go north of $250,000
and do not last long on the market.
When it was first developed, the
grand plan was to build causeways
from the island to the mainland and
the beaches. Thankfully, those plans
never materialized.
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
For real estate agent Gail Fischer of
One Sotheby’s International, selling
island property is both a pleasure
and a source of frustration.
She feels she is more on vacation
than at work when she enlists
Foster’s boat to shuttle prospective
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JERRY SONNENBERG PHOTOS
Just five minutes by boat from the mainland, VIP Island exudes Caribbean vibes.
Joe Foster ferries folks such as real estate agent Gail Fischer,
of One Sotheby’s International, to his favorite spot on Earth,
>> Grant Farm Island in the Indian River Lagoon.
F
/SPACECOASTLIVING.COM