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 Photo: Steven Higbee Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Image 2 of 9 Spanning nearly 6 acres and reaching 172 feet above water at its highest point, Red Rock island straddles three counties, Marin, S.F., and Contra Costa. Spanning nearly 6 acres and reaching 172 feet above water at its highest point, Red Rock island straddles three counties, Marin, S.F., and Contra Costa. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 3 of 9 The view of the Richmond Bridge from Red Rock island. The view of the Richmond Bridge from Red Rock island. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 4 of 9 Selim Woodworth, son of the poet Samuel Woodworth, was the only person to ever live on the island, according to redrockisland.homestead.com. Selim Woodworth, son of the poet Samuel Woodworth, was the only person to ever live on the island, according to redrockisland.homestead.com. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 5 of 9 Image 6 of 9 Another view of the island. Another view of the island. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 7 of 9 Red Rock Island is listed for $5M. Red Rock Island is listed for $5M. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 8 of 9 Seagulls fly above Red Rock's prominent rock formation. Seagulls fly above Red Rock's prominent rock formation. Photo: Steven Higbee Image 9 of 9 Red Rock Island now yours for only $5M 1 / 9 Back to Gallery 
 
 How much to own your own private island spanning three Bay Area Counties? $22M? Half that? A quarter? Don’t worry if you can’t guess: neither can Red Rock Island’s seller and real estate team. In 2012, the 5.5 acre span of rock, sand, hearty vegetation and minerals (the rights to which were included with sale) hit the market at $22M. Despite a reported “real interest” from island buyers, Red Rock did not sell. Instead, its price was slashed to $9M, and mineral rights downgraded to negotiable. Now, in 2015, it’s yours for $5M, mineral rights included. 
 
 History 
 
 Red Rock, sometimes called Golden Rock or Treasure Island, enjoys a storied history and, perhaps, mythology. SF Gate reported in 2012 that “according to legend, the island was once a burial place for pirate’s treasure; though, if any was ever found, it was never publicly acknowledged.” 
 
 The real allure for prospectors was likely the possibilities, and the resources, the island might afford. In the first quarter of the 19th century, Russian hunters landed there to trap otters. The only privately owned island in the Bay, it has long attracted entrepreneurial attention. 
 
 In 1964, Mendel Glickman, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, purchased it for less than $50,000. “ Glickman dreamed of transforming Red Rock into a vacation getaway with a destination hotel and of tapping into its gas reserves,” said Realtor Steven Higbee, representing then current owner Mack Durning. 
 
 Higbee also spoke of the island’s potential for a modern buyer: envisioning “‘a getaway place’ for vacationers or the setting for ‘a dream house’ – after removing about a third off the top off the prominent rock formation. He valued the rock on the island – useful for road building, aggregate and cement – at $22 million.” Three years later, the official listing spoke equally eloquently, but much less expensively: 
 
 The island has a myriad of possibilities for tourism development, preservation as a natural sanctuary, mineral extraction site, or just as your highly unique personal retreat. Extensive development details and plans are available on request from interested parties. 
 
 Worth $5M? 
 
 Even if all the new buyer does is plant a flag that says “mine” on the top-most point of Red Rock Island (172 feet above sea level, incidentally), the bragging rights here are pretty extreme. 
 
 It is, again, the only privately owned island in the Bay, rising from the ocean to the south of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, straddling three counties: Marin, San Francisco, and Contra Costa. SF Gate has gently pointed out before though that such a location could be more headache than anything else: “Any interested developer would face a triple-threat bureaucracy, plus the oversight of a few state agencies.” 
 
 Worth $5M, readers? If a condo in SoMa is, then why not this? 
 
 Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert ||||| The only privately-held island in San Francisco Bay is on sale with a massive price cut. 
 
 Red Rock Island hit the market in 2012 for $22 million before it was slashed to $9 million, but now it can be yours for $5 million. The 5.5-acre property is mostly rock and minerals, and its previous owners boasted of its potential gas reserves. But with a possible outcry from San Francisco residents over the prospect of drilling there, the real estate agent handling the property envisions other uses amid the skyrocketing real estate prices in the area. 
 
 In the first quarter of the 19th century, Russian hunters trapped otters on the island, SFGate.com reported. One of the previous owners, Mendel Glickman, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, thought it could be a vacation getaway, in addition to tapping gas reserves. Glickman purchased it for less than $50,000, according to SFGate.com. 
 
 Steven Higbee 
 
 When Glickman died, the property eventually went to his son, David, an attorney who now lives in Thailand, and his business associate Mack Durning. 
 
 Steven Higbee 
 
 "The Durning sons are the owners of record, and they do want to sell it," Steven Higbee, the real estate agent handling the property, told ABC News. "It's kind of in strange limbo at this point. It's been dormant for probably three years." 
 
 Higbee said the island is within the boundaries of three counties: Marin, Contra Costa and San Francisco. 
 
 Steven Higbee 
 
 David Glickman would travel to the island by helicopter, Higbee said, though there is no helipad. 
 
 "It's a big dome hump. It's solid rock with grass and trees at the top, but the grass is low and the helicopter can land without a problem," Higbee said. 
 
 "At this point, everybody goes back and forth by boat. The Boy Scouts used it for years for camping," Higbee said. "It's a short ride by boat predicated by where you're coming from. It's readily accessible from Sausalito, San Francisco or the Richmond shores." 
 
 The north side of the island faces the Richmond Bridge. 
 
 "The north side has a fairly nice beach for the Bay Area, though the other sides are pretty rocky. It's a gravely beach," Higbee said. ||||| The only privately-held island in San Francisco Bay is on sale with a massive price cut. 
 
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 In the first quarter of the 19th century, Russian hunters trapped otters on the island, SFGate.com reported. One of the previous owners, Mendel Glickman, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, thought it could be a vacation getaway, in addition to tapping gas reserves. Glickman purchased it for less than $50,000, according to SFGate.com. 
 
 When Glickman died, the property eventually went to his son, David, an attorney who now lives in Thailand, and his business associate Mack Durning. 
 
 "The Durning sons are the owners of record, and they do want to sell it," Steven Higbee, the real estate agent handling the property, told ABC News. "It's kind of in strange limbo at this point. It's been dormant for probably three years." 
 
 View gallery . Steven Higbee 
 
 David Glickman would travel to the island by helicopter, Higbee said, though there is no helipad. 
 
 "It's a big dome hump. It's solid rock with grass and trees at the top, but the grass is low and the helicopter can land without a problem," Higbee said. 
 
 "At this point, everybody goes back and forth by boat. The Boy Scouts used it for years for camping," Higbee said. "It's a short ride by boat predicated by where you're coming from. It's readily accessible from Sausalito, San Francisco or the Richmond shores." 
 
 The north side of the island faces the Richmond Bridge. 
 
 "The north side has a fairly nice beach for the Bay Area, though the other sides are pretty rocky. It's a gravely beach," Higbee said. 
 
 View gallery .
– Want to make San Francisco Bay's only privately owned island your own? Easy, if you've got $5 million and don't mind a big dome-like rock with trees and grass and not much else, Yahoo reports. Owned by an attorney living in Thailand, Red Rock Island went on the market three years ago for $22 million and was touted for its possible gas reserves. But with San Francisco residents seemingly ready to oppose drilling on the 5.5-acre property, the price fell to $9 million. Now comes the new price, without any promise of natural-gas riches. "It's kind of in strange limbo at this point," the real estate agent in charge of the deal tells ABC News. "It's been dormant for probably three years." Its history is perhaps more exciting: Also known as Treasure Island or Golden Rock, it was once said to house pirates' loot, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It was also used by Russian hunters in the 19th century to catch otters. Then Frank Lloyd Wright's son, Mendel Glickman, snagged it for just $50,000 in 1964 with the hope of extracting gas and creating a getaway hotel. Now his son David, the attorney in Thailand, owns it and wants to sell. Bureaucratic headaches may await the next owner, but "even if all the new buyer does is plant a flag that says 'mine' on the top-most point of Red Rock Island (172 feet above sea level, incidentally), the bragging rights here are pretty extreme," says the Chronicle.