02:46 PM PDT on Saturday, July 23, 2005

Associated Press

WSDOE

Allan Island has a sandy beach facing Anacortes with a dock and a caretaker's cabin.

ANACORTES, Wash. - Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen has put 290-acre Allan Island on the market. The island is just off the western shore of Anacortes.

The asking price is $25 million, or about $1 million for each of the 25 buildable lots, each with waterfront access. If that's too steep, another area island, 6.75-acre Young Island, a haven for scuba divers, is available for $1.9 million.

Gudgell Properties LLC, a real estate firm on Orcas Island, is the listing agent for both properties. It also lists seven other area islands.

Allan Island has a sandy beach facing Anacortes with a dock and a caretaker's cabin. Part of the island was cleared for an airstrip, but much of it is covered by rugged forest. Allen planned to build a home there when he bought the island in 1992 but he shifted those plans to Orcas Island's Sperry Peninsula.