Who's Banksy? Theories about his true identity
Who is Banksy?
British, male, white, blond, and forty-something: that is Banksy according to clues gathered by journalists over the years. But who is he really? It's one of the best-kept secrets in the world.
Picture: Michael Korol / Unsplash
REVEALED! The secrets of the world's loneliest houses
The most isolated, remote abodes on the planet
Craving peace and solitude? Then you'll love these out-of-the-way homes. Cut off from civilisation, far from the madding crowd and as secluded as they come, they offer the ultimate respite from hectic modern life. Join us as we take a trip well off the beaten track and explore 10 remote residences situated in the back of beyond, from bleak moorland dwellings in the UK to a remarkable desert home in Spain and lonesome island properties in America, Serbia and Iceland.
The Skiddaw House in Bassenthwaite, England
Skiddaw House in the picturesque Lake District was described by writer Hugh Walpole as “one of the loneliest dwelling places in all the British Isles”. The novelist was so taken with the property's majestic, eerie isolation that he set a gruesome murder scene there in his 1932 novel The Fortress. Located 1,500 feet above sea level and set among the sweeping, treeless Skiddaw forest in the romantically desolate lands known as Back o’Skidda, the foreboding property was built in 1829 as a hunting lodge for George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont.
The former railway worker's cottage in Ribblehead, England
Found above Ribblehead, in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales, 3 Blea Moor Cottages is among the other contenders for the loneliest and least accessible house in England. Located beside the Settle to Carlisle line, not far from the banks of the River Dee, the house was one of three railway workers' cottages constructed in the 1940s by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The other two properties were demolished years ago, leaving the cottage all alone on the windswept moor. The nearby signal box is still operational, however, making it one of the most isolated in the UK that Network Rail continues to staff.
La Casa del Desierto in Gorafe, Spain
La Casa del Desierto ("The Desert House") is a collaboration between multinational Guardian Glass, Slovenian architectural firm Ofis Arhitekti, HVAC multinational Transsolar and London-based engineering company Akt II. Built in 2019 and located far from prying eyes in the exceedingly remote Gorafe Desert in Spain's Andalucia region, the all-glass property has achieved the near-impossible given it's made almost completely from glass, and can quite rightfully be described as a miracle.
The lighthouse cabin in Lyngstuva, Norway
Located a stone's throw from the Lyngstuva lighthouse in the extreme north of Norway, well within the Arctic Circle, this adorable off-grid tiny house has been called the most remote cabin in the Nordic nation. The dinky hut was built in 1922 reportedly as a shelter for the lighthouse keeper, though Aussie YouTuber Sii of the North & Beyond channel, who has stayed at the property, said it was originally built to store oil.
The Buffa di Perrero shelter on Monte Cristallo, Italy
According to The Sun, the world's loneliest house is this dicey-looking shelter embedded on a mountainside deep in northern Italy's Dolomite range. Situated an impressive 9,000 feet above sea level and many miles away from civilisation, the property has baffled people who aren't in the know for decades, as its construction appears impossible. Indeed, you'd be forgiven for assuming pics of the shelter have been Photoshopped.
The wood-frame cottage on Duck Ledges Island, USA
Maine is the most rural of America's 50 states, with official statistics suggesting a whopping 50% of its landmass is completely uninhabited. And though it's only the 13th least densely populated – Alaska is the most sparse in this respect – the Pine Tree State has more than its fair share of wilderness areas where you can lose yourself in nature, with literally nobody else around. Cue this bijou private island in Wohoa Bay off the coast of Addison.
The wood-frame cottage on Duck Ledges Island, USA
The 1.5-acre isle, boasting a characterful clapboard cottage, caused quite the stir when it hit the market last summer via Bold Coast Properties at a bargain asking price of $337,000 (£274k). Owner Billy Milliken, who'd bought the property in 2007, said he would only consider offers from people prepared to spend a night alone there, figuring that anyone willing to do this would, by extension, properly take care of the place and its bountiful wildlife, which includes dolphins, seals and – we're assuming by the name – a lot of ducks.
The Katshki Pillar hermit cottage in Chiatura, Georgia
Nestled in the western Georgian region of Imereti, the Katskhi Pillar is a sacred natural limestone monolith on top of which stands a church dedicated to Maximus the Confessor, as well as a crypt, wine cellar and cottage. That cottage is one of the loneliest on the planet, and houses three hermit cells. The precarious spot's last resident was devout monk Father Maxime Qavtaradze, who lived in solitude there for two decades.
The hut's irresistible photogenic appeal has, as you might expect, made it one of the most famous abodes in Scotland. As well as featuring in TV shows and movies, the dwelling often appears on postcards, shortbread tins and the like, and shots of the hut and its heart-stoppingly beautiful surroundings are almost mandatory for calendars depicting the Scottish Highlands. Needless to say, Instagram is awash with dramatic photos of the hut taken from every conceivable angle.
The Drina River house in Bajina Bašta, Serbia
Perched precariously on a rock in the narrows of the Drina River on the western border of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, this weird and wonderful tiny abode was little known to the outside world until National Geographic featured it as its Photo of the Day on 2 August 2012, garnering the lonesome riverine property global fame. Today, the isolated dwelling draws crowds of tourists who marvel at its unlikely setting and fairytale vibe.
The white house on Elliðaey Island, Iceland
Shrouded in mystery, the sole property on the remote island of Elliðaey off the southern coast of Iceland has taken the internet by storm. Dubbed “the world's loneliest house” after a pic of the far-flung locale went viral in 2016, the dwelling has attracted all sorts of conspiracy theories and fanciful rumours. Was the forlorn abode built by a billionaire to escape a zombie apocalypse? Does it belong to famous Icelandic singer Björk or a shady religious cult, as some of the chatter on the internet suggests? Or, more ominously, is it harbouring “a dark truth”?
The white house on Elliðaey Island, Iceland
As it turns out, “the world's loneliest house” isn't actually a home in the traditional sense. Rather, it's a lodge that was built in the 1950s by an organisation called the Elliðaey Hunting Association, as a base for puffin-hunting. During his visit there in 2021, Trahan braved the rough Atlantic seas and a treacherous climb up the island's cliff face to spend a night in the lonely lodge as a guest of an intrepid local called Bjarni, who appears to frequent the property.
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