An historic inn and tavern in Deer Isle has a new owner.
The Pilgrim’s Inn, the main building of which was built as a private home in the late 1700s, was sold on New Year’s Eve, according to the information recorded at the Hancock County Registry of Deeds. The buyer is an entity called Ark Deer Isle LLC.
The inn property was listed for sale for more than $2.2 million, according to Realty of Maine. The sale price for the waterfront property has not been publicly disclosed.
The inn consists of a main building and three smaller guest cottages that overlook tidal Mill Pond in Deer Isle’s central village. Town records indicate the inn property consists of two adjacent parcels totaling 2.5 acres, but the real estate listing said less than 2 acres was for sale. Deer Isle’s assessed value for the properties is approximately $1.2 million.
The main building, constructed by Ignatius Haskell in 1793, consists of 12 guest rooms, some of which have a “slight slant to the floor,” the inn’s website says. The inn also has a restaurant and tavern that are open to the public. The inn is on the National Register of Historic Places.
According to the property’s 1977 nomination form for the register, Ignatius Haskell moved to Deer Isle — which along with the rest of Maine was part of Massachusetts at the time — from Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1778.
Born in 1751, Haskell moved from Newburyport to Deer Isle with his father Mark Haskell, a sea captain, and his brother Solomon Haskell. His brother moved back to Massachusetts in 1810, after their father’s death. Ignatius took over the family’s business interests in the area, which included grist and saw mills, house construction, a store and shipbuilding.
Haskell also served as a local selectman, justice of the peace, and “although, an opponent of Maine statehood, was chosen a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1819,” according to the nomination form.
The property, which was converted into an inn in 1890, remained owned by Haskell’s descendants until 1944, when the business closed. It then fell into disuse but was revived as an inn by new owners in 1975, according to the inn’s website.
The most recent operators of the inn, Albert and Lindsay Schmurr, purchased the property in 2022 for $1.42 million, according to an article published that year by MaineBiz.
Albert Schmurr was listed in the Dec. 31 sale deed as the sole member of The Ark 1793 LLC, the entity that technically owned the inn property. Lindsay Schmurr was listed as the manager of Pilgrims Downeast LLC, which leased the property from Ark 1793.
Information about who has a financial stake in the new owning entity, Ark Deer Isle LLC, was unavailable Thursday.
