Fire destroys millionaire's island hideaway

The building, which was to be powered by solar panels and diesel generators, and use log burners, was nearing completion when the blaze was reported yesterday morning

A millionaire who won a planning battle to build an eco-friendly island hideaway home has seen his dreams go up in smoke after the six-bedroom timber chalet was destroyed by fire. 

Edward Iliffe, 43, has spent the last two years building the £4 million retreat, made from cedar wood and equipped with solar panels.

The idea was to provide a base from where his three young children could enjoy a “Swallows and Amazons” style life of adventures during school holidays on Green Island in Poole Harbor. Mr Iliffe bought the island for £2.5 million in 2005.

His plans for the building were rejected by Purbeck District Council in 2009 – even though there were no objections and the design had been praised by conservationists - but Mr Iliffe won an appeal the following year.

The building, which was to be powered by solar panels and diesel generators, and use log burners, was nearing completion when the blaze was reported yesterday morning.

Flames spread quickly through the log-walled three-storey building as the blaze took hold on its two upper floors before an atrium collapsed.

Mr Iliffe said it was possible the fire could have originated in the fireplace, which had already been tested, or as a result of construction work but it was too early to know what the cause really was.

He said it had taken a “very long time” for the house to be constructed but he hoped it could be rebuilt "relatively painlessly".

No one was in the property at the time of the fire, which was reported early yesterday morning. Fifty firefighters had to be ferried to the island and pump seawater to put out the blaze, which was still smouldering yesterday.

A fire brigade spokeswoman said it did not appear to be suspicious.