Life on the Most Remote Human Settlement in the World

If luck is on your side, it’ll take 7 to 10 days to get to Tristan da Cunha, a 38-square-mile volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. If the weather is bad, that timeline shoots way, way up—sometimes reaching several weeks. And even once you reach Tristan, as it’s colloquially called, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to set foot on land. “Our harbor is too small to accommodate ocean-going vessels, so the seas need to be calm enough for our ferry rafts and boats to come and collect you from the ship,” explains Kelly Green, the island’s head of tourism. These tame conditions “happen roughly 70 days a year.”

Tristan da Cunha, a constituent part of the British overseas territory of St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, is home to the world’s most remote human settlement, officially called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. (It got its name after a visit in 1867 from the Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Alfred, who was the second son of Queen Victoria). Located roughly between South Africa and South America, the closest inhabited place—St. Helena—is 1,514 miles to the north. To the south there is only ocean between the island and Antartica, while Montevideo, Uruguay, is about 2,434 miles to the west and Cape Town is 1,732 miles to the east.

Because of its remoteness, residents on the island have established a history of self-sufficiency: This is true in everything, from the sheep and cattle that locals rear to the homes that people live in. “There are no building companies here, so all infrastructure is built by the islanders or [occasionally] by contractors that come in [for specific projects,]” Kelly explains. Skills are passed down from one generation to the next, and most building techniques have decades—if not more—of tradition.

However, a few young couples on the island have recently started experimenting with new materials and construction approaches, which could have long-lasting impacts on the settlement and its future residents. “This is not something that would have been passed down by older generations,” Kelly explains. “Hopefully now, though, they will themselves be able to pass on these skills to their children.”

A History of Home Building

Kelly is one of 238 residents on Tristan (yes, they all know each other) and has lived there for 12 years. “I very rarely feel the sense of distance, in fact when I am on the island I feel less ‘distance’ here than anywhere else in the world,” she says. Thirteen years ago, she visited her parents on the island when her father was appointed island administrator, a position employed by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, who acts as president of the island council and chairs the heads of department meeting. “I met my now husband,” she says of the fateful vacation, prompting her to take up permanent residence.

Today, the settlement is largely a farming and fishing community, and the biggest source of income comes from the island’s lobster concession. The main island is part of an archipelago (also called Tristan da Cunha), which consists of four primary islands and was first discovered in 1506 by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha. The rough seas kept him from disembarking, but he nonetheless named the main island after himself.

A Dutch crew was the first to land on the uninhabited isles in 1643, but it wouldn’t be settled permanently until 1817 when three members from a British garrison—William Glass (the founder), Samuel Burnell, and John Nankivel—stayed behind after the rest of the crew went back to the mainland. (Glass’s wife, Maria, and their children were also members of this founding group.)

The original settlers established a unique social contract, called The Firm, which was “a signed voluntary agreement of communal living, including: equal shares of stock and stores; equally divided profit; equal shares in paying for purchases; no one superior over another,” Tristan’s website explains.

The next 150 years would see residents come and go, but by 1942 the settlement became a thriving colonial outpost. Even a volcanic eruption in 1961 couldn’t stop the community—the island had to be evacuated for a year, but nearly every family returned between 1962 and 1963. Though the exact number of inhabitants has changed occasionally, it’s often hovered around 150 to 250 people throughout the past 70 years.

For the first settlers, building shelter was among the most important tasks upon arriving on the remote, uninhabited lands. “The original Tristan da Cunha Settlement contained robust stone houses, which were designed by Nankivel and Burnell, two Devon stonemasons,” Kelly says. “They set a tradition of house-building, which used local materials to provide wind- and largely weather-proof dwellings.”

The original houses, which were all bungalows to keep them safe from strong winds, were made from volcanic tuff, a “sandy-colored consolidated ash, known by islanders as ‘soft stone,’” Kelly explains. The material is easily cut into building blocks and then used to form the gable ends of homes. “These stones are still in many of the island homes, including my own,” Kelly adds.

Some residences were finished with wood panels, though the lack of material means many were only stone walls, thatched roofs, and dirt floors. Interiors were slowly completed over time when passing ships—and sometimes shipwrecks—brought additional materials. “Some houses were lucky enough to even have wallpaper, though this was just old newspaper cuttings,” Kelly adds.

Today, most of the island homes are made with either concrete or brick, topped with zinc roofs, and finished with hardboard on the interiors. Other infrastructure on the island includes a school, a hospital, two churches, a small shop called the Island Store, and one café located in the Post Office & Tourism Center. “Construction is really a community endeavor,” Kelly adds. “Everyone will chip in and help.”

But the settlement’s climate—which can be damp and cold—has prompted some couples to consider a fresh material that could provide potentially better insulation: drywall.

New Materials

“Building a house on the remotest island in the world definitely comes with many ups and downs,” Rachel Green, who is building a new home with her partner, Leo Glass, says. (There are seven primary last names in the settlement, and Kelly and Rachel are distantly related through Kelly’s husband’s family). Rachel and Leo are both in their mid-20s and previously built a guesthouse, but they are now embarking on creating their own forever residence. “Our guesthouse was built with traditional materials used on the island, which we call Masonite or hardboard,” Rachel says. “But for our own home we wanted to try something different, so we went with plasterboard (drywall).”

The couple opted for drywall for its aesthetic appeal, but also to provide better insulation. “Since no one on the island has central heating, we were looking for ways in which we could insulate our home as much as possible,” Rachel says. Though she acknowledges that there are other materials that could also do this well, she and Leo didn’t have any experience with them, and there had already been another home on the island constructed with drywall. “Plasterboard and fiberglass insulation was used by our friends who said their home didn’t have a problem with mold or dampness, and in the winter their house was very warm, so we thought we would give it a try,” she says. “I’m someone who enjoys building and creative work, so being able to build my own house with my partner is very exciting.”

However, this doesn’t come without challenges. The pair have had to learn much of the technique through Google and online tutorials, in addition to asking advice from their friends that built a home with plasterboard. Most materials have to be ordered months in advance and can be extremely expensive when accounting for base prices in addition to shipping agents and freight costs. “If you happen to forget to order something, you’ll have to wait another two months, which will ultimately delay the build,” she explains.

It takes a lot of time—both from waiting for shipments and the actual labor, which is usually done by just her and Leo, though sometimes friends and family pitch in. It’s also difficult to order most materials without ever seeing the items in person, “Especially when the photos online can be deceiving,” she adds.

The challenges, however, will only make the end that much more rewarding. “The satisfaction of being able to say ‘Yes, I did that’ after all the struggles we’ve faced while living on such a remote island is very pleasing,” she says. “I can’t wait until we finally finish the build, which we are aiming to do in the middle of 2025.”

Future Impacts

Here, homes represent shelter and comfort in the most pure sense—for the most part, they aren’t assets or investments. “There are no houses for sale,” Kelly says. “When you’re building, you’re not thinking about reselling at all, as you won’t be selling it.” Unlike many other parts of the world, homeownership is not just an attainable goal on Tristan, but a stunningly normal part of community life. Following Glass’s principles of an equal community, land is communally owned, and according to Tristan’s official website, “stock numbers are strictly controlled to both conserve pasture and to prevent better-off families accumulating wealth.” (Non-locals can’t buy on land on the island and immigration to Tristan is not possible unless you already have a family connection with the island. )

As Kelly adds, “There are no houses or apartments that you can rent on the island, so you either build or stay with mom and dad.” For example, when a couple starts dating and decide they want to live together, they move in with someone’s parents (often the woman’s, but it can vary) and begin building their own place. According to tradition, the pair would get married soon after the residence is ready. “Then, they spend the first night of their married life in the newly built home,” Kelly says. “This does not always happen, though, as some choose to move out of their parents’ homes as soon as their own is completed.” Sometimes, couples will also renovate properties passed down from parents or grandparents.

Rachel and Leo’s home represents the beauty in taking on a challenge not for outside gain, but for personal fulfillment. Still, given construction’s forever relevance on Tristan, their efforts could have far-reaching impact. “I definitely think that others will use the plasterboard once they see the finish on Rachel’s house,” Kelly says. Some will stick with the hardboard because it’s quicker, but by bringing these new skills and knowledge into the community, it opens up a wide range of possibilities for other families and future generations.

More broadly, these changes speak to Tristan’s growing connection with the rest of the world. “Today, Tristan is much more connected to the outer world, and people can watch YouTube or TikTok and get ideas,” Kelly explains. “I can remember 12 years ago when I came there was no Wi-Fi and people were still ordering from catalogs.”

Though it may be more linked to others than before, the island retains a number of attractive and largely unique draws that can’t be found anywhere else. “Safety here is second to none,” Kelly says, adding “I love the freedom I feel when I am here, the peace, and looking after my animals.” There are some lifestyle challenges, and they mirror those of construction—things such as long wait times for orders and difficulty in getting on and off the island. Nonetheless, Kelly says that the drawbacks are often well worth it. “As a family, we all enjoy spending time at the black sand beaches and swimming in the rock pools in the summer,” she says. “And I love walking over the fields and taking in the epic views.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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