Which island of Epstein’s is the house on? How big is it? Where did Epstein land his jets when visiting the islands? How much exactly are the utility bills
Executive summary
Jeffrey Epstein’s main house was on Little Saint James (often called “Little St. James” or “Epstein Island”), a roughly 70–90 acre islet in the U.S. Virgin Islands that Epstein bought in 1998 and developed heavily; reporting and public records commonly give its area as about 70–78 acres and list it as the center of his estate [1] [2]. Visitors typically reached the islands by Epstein’s private planes to St. Thomas and then by helicopter or boat to Little and Great St. James [3] [4]. Available sources do not provide a single, public “exact” dollar figure for utility bills on the island; reporting mentions private desalination, on-island staff and connected utilities but gives no itemized utility-bill totals [5] [1] [6].
1. Which island held the house — the short answer
Jeffrey Epstein’s primary island residence and the interior house photos released by authorities are on Little Saint James (Little St. James), one of two U.S. Virgin Islands he owned; House Oversight Committee materials and news outlets identify the images as from Little St. James [6] [7] [8].
2. How big is Little St. James — what the record says
Multiple sources cite Little St. James as a relatively small private islet: Wikipedia and Reuters report the island’s area at roughly 70 to 78 acres (about 28–32 hectares), and contemporaneous reporting of Epstein’s purchases and valuations aligns with that scale [1] [2]. The larger neighboring Great St. James was acquired later and is substantially bigger [2].
3. How Epstein reached the islands — planes, helis and boats
Flight-logs reporting and local accounts establish that Epstein owned and used multiple aircraft — including a Gulfstream and other planes commonly called the “Lolita Express” — to travel to U.S. gateways; from there he typically transferred to helicopter or boat to reach Little and Great St. James because the islets lacked conventional public runways [4] [3]. News outlets recount staff and airfield witnesses saying Epstein would fly into St. Thomas and then board a helicopter or boat to the islands [3] [4].
4. Where did the jets land when he visited — what sources describe
The jets landed at established airports (for example, St. Thomas’s international airport or other regional fields) rather than on Little St. James itself; contemporaneous reporting and firsthand witness accounts describe Epstein flying into St. Thomas and then using helicopters or boats to access his islets [3] [4]. Some accounts also reference local tarmacs and helicopters operating between the airports and the islands [3].
5. How big was the house and what structures were present
Photos and videos released by authorities and reported by major outlets show a developed compound with a main colonnaded villa, smaller cabanas, pool, helipad, dock, and ancillary buildings — the main house and adjacent structures formed an estate that was remodeled and expanded over years [1] [2] [7]. Reporting notes a stone-walled cabana identified as Epstein’s personal living space and a larger villa where guests stayed [1].
6. Utility systems mentioned in reporting — desalination, grid ties, staff
Sources mention a private desalination system, on-island electric connections and enough staff (about 70 at one point) to run operations; Reuters and other reporting say the development included dedicated data and electric connections and desalination capacity, indicating substantial ongoing utility costs — but no source publishes itemized monthly bills [1] [5] [2].
7. Exact utility bills — what is and isn’t in the record
Available reporting and released materials describe infrastructure (desalination, electricity, staffing) but do not disclose precise utility-bill amounts for Little St. James. No provided source gives an “exact” dollar figure for monthly or annual utility bills; therefore any specific dollar amount is not present in current reporting [5] [1].
8. Competing perspectives and limits of the public record
Mainstream outlets (NYT, BBC, CNN, Reuters, PBS) uniformly identify Little St. James as the location and document the transport chain via plane-to-helicopter/boat; eyewitnesses quoted in some pieces recount seeing children and guests boarding flights and helicopters [7] [6] [3]. Some tabloid and opinion-oriented outlets offer more sensational detail or estimates [5] [9], but those do not supply audited utility-account numbers. The public record is strong on ownership, size and transport methods but weak on granular operational costs such as exact utility bills [1] [4] [5].
Final note: reporting continues to evolve as congressional releases and legal documents surface; for specific financial ledgers — utility invoices, vendor statements or estate accounting — current publicly available sources do not include those documents [7] [10].