Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
A former sporting camp on a nearly 10-acre private island in the North Maine Woods is for sale for $2.4 million.
The 9.6-acre Zella Island sits in the northern part of Fish River Lake in the North Maine Woods and is dotted with modernized cabins. The property is in an unorganized territory in Aroostook County, west of Portage Lake.
Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the site was established in 1895 and served as a hunting camp for more than 100 years until the sellers bought it nearly two decades ago.
“When they bought it, it needed a lot of love,” said Heidi Steele of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, the listing agent for the property. “They have poured their hearts into it, renovated the cabins and brought them back to life.”
The compound features a prominent octagonal lodge with a large central fireplace, bathroom, commercial kitchen and space to host up to two dozen people, according to the sellers. The building has internet, a television, pool table, shuffleboard and other entertainment amenities.
The six updated log cabins along the island’s 3,000 feet of shoreline vary in size from one to two bedrooms and have full bathrooms with indoor plumbing, Steele said.
The sellers use the property only during the summer, but each cabin is equipped with a wood stove for heat.
Solar panels on the island generate electricity while the water from the faucets comes from the lake, Steele said. There’s also a backup diesel generator on the property.
“It’s very remote, but it’s also quite modern,” Steele said. “It’s a wonderful combination of the two.”
The “owner’s cabin” closest to the main lodge building is the largest, with a spacious living area, two bedrooms, a full bathroom and a kitchenette, Steele said.
Two additional cabins haven’t been fully renovated. One is being used as a boathouse, Steele said.
The sellers have used it as a private, seasonal getaway for themselves and their family. Their children grew up spending their summers there and now bring their children to the camp, Steele said. The owners are reluctant to sell it, but their children aren’t in a position to assume ownership of the island.
“The owners are getting older and it’s just time for them to part with it, as much as they don’t want to,” Steele said. “They live in Florida and it’s harder and harder for them to get up here in the summers. They think it’s time to transfer it on to a new owner.”
The property was listed for sale for $2.5 million in August 2023, then removed in February 2024 after it didn’t sell, Zillow records show. It hit the market again in July 2025 with an asking price of $2.4 million, where it has remained ever since.
The property is being sold as is, including all of the furniture and various pieces of equipment on the island, according to Steele. That includes two float and dock systems, lawnmowers, a tractor, six kayaks, and a few boats, among other machinery.
The other structures on the island include a garage or barn space, storage shed, and a laundry facility with a washer and dryer. Aside from that, the island offers a fire pit and walking trails that snake around the island’s perimeter, Steele said.
The owners lease a 1-acre property on the mainland that includes a parking area, storage shed and a dock. This makes it easy for the owners and visitors to reach the island and leave their vehicles nearby, Steele said.
Regardless of whether the island remains a private family compound or gets converted back into a commercial property, Steele said she believes the site is “a float plane owner’s haven.”
“Someone who owned a float plane could get themselves in and out really quickly,” Steele said. “They could probably keep a float plane at the Presque Isle airport, and flying to other places in the North Maine Woods would also be really fun.”
