Courtesy / The Lodge at Moosehead Lake
The Lodge at Moosehead Lake, in Greenville, overlooks Maine’s largest lake.
June 3, 2021
RI couple bails on powerhouse careers for the innkeeping life in Maine’s North Woods
Courtesy / The Lodge at Moosehead Lake
The Lodge at Moosehead Lake in Greenville was listed for sale at $2.495 million.
A neurosurgical intensive care registered nurse and a financial analyst have put those high-powered careers behind them in favor of the innkeeping life on Moosehead Lake in northern Maine.
Larry and Beverly Burgess bought the Lodge at Moosehead Lake, at 368 Lily Bay Road in Greenville, from Linda and Dennis Bortis for an undisclosed sum.
Rick Wolf of the B&B Team and Kim Swan and Dana Moos of the Swan Agency brokered the transaction.
Built in 1917 as a private home, it was turned into a restaurant in the 1960s, then a country inn.
Perched atop Blair Hill, guests have unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains and Moosehead Lake.
It comprises three buildings on seven acres. The main lodge has five guest rooms, a restaurant and common areas, including a lower-level pub. The Carriage House is home to four suites. The owner's home has a lake view through a wall of windows. There is also small building to house staff.
Every room has its own fireplace. Six rooms have private decks. All but one overlooks the lake. Architectural details include hand-carved beds.
The lodge typically attracts guests from all over the world and was the first inland Maine property to receive the AAA Four Diamond Award for excellence in hospitality, a distinction it has maintained.
Moose safaris
The sellers, who had assumed ownership in 2007, developed numerous recreational amenities, including moonlight canoe rides, moose safaris, “call of the wild” guided trips and fly-in canoes trips. The trips were customized through the guides they hire.
Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in Maine and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. The Moosehead Lake region, three hours north of Portland and about two hours from Bangor, is a popular vacation destination marketed as wilderness with recreational activities that include fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing.
The property was listed in June 2018 at $2.495 million and first went under contract before the pandemic, said Swan, who represented the sellers.
That contract fell through, though, because of the year’s uncertainties, she added.
But huge demand for reservations throughout 2020 generated a lot of interest from potential buyers.
“Greensville isn’t considered to be a crazy-busy place,” but the sellers “had an unbelievable season in 2020,” she said. “People felt safer there. So it became a very popular listing.”
Courtesy / The Lodge at Moosehead Lake
Reservations were strong in 2020 and remain so this year.
Wolf, who represented the buyers, said the purchase price was in the low- to mid-$2 million area.
After looking at properties elsewhere in northern New England, “I suggested they look at Moosehead Lake,” he said. “The property is drop-dead gorgeous.”
Two-year search
The Burgesses lived in Rhode Island for over 20 years and have family in Maine, according to their bios.
Beverly began her career as a neurosurgical intensive care registered nurse and spent time as president of a nonprofit educational organization. During her time at both organizations, she handled triaging, strategic planning, staff management, budgeting, event planning and other skills that, she wrote, transfer easily to inn ownership.
Larry was a financial analyst for over 30 years.
“Looking for a change from the stress of corporate life, he attended a bed-and-breakfast seminar with Bev almost two years ago,” he bio says. “He was sold on inn ownership and began an earnest search for the perfect inn.”
Although his days as a financial analyst are behind him, he still engages in the corporate world on a consultative basis.
Courtesy / Burgess Family
Larry and Beverly Burgess.
“We both needed something different,” Beverly Burgess told Mainebiz. “A B&B was something I’d always wanted to do.”
Larry wasn’t sold on the idea at first, she said. She enrolled in an “aspiring innkeepers” course offered by Wolf.
“I told Larry, ‘Let’s just go and see what it’s about. It’s a weekend away in Kennebunkport,’” she recalled. “So we went and he said, ‘Yes, maybe we can do this.’”
The two viewed inns for about two years.
“We knew we wanted to stay in New England,” she said.
504 and ROBS
Then Wolf told them about the Greenville property. The Burgesses visited.
“We got the grand tour with the listing agent,” she said. “It took an hour-and-a-half just to go through the first time.”
The view of the lake and mountains grabbed their attention.
“We kept going back to the view,” she said. “No matter where we were on the property, it was spectacular. For us, it felt like such a relaxing place, even though we would be working there.”
They moved there in late March and hired a contractor to do some improvements before their opening date on May 14. That included painting the downstairs common rooms, upgrades to the kitchen and some décor changes.
The property ran seasonally in the past, but the couple plans to operate year-round, she said.
“We’ll see what the winter season brings,” she said, citing regional recreational amenities that include plans by Provident Group-Moosehead Lake L3C to develop a ski resort on Moosehead Lake about six miles north of Greenville; as well as ice fishing, dog sledding, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.
The couple financed the acquisition through the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan program, a regular bank loan, and a funding vehicle called “rollover for business startups,” or ROBS.
The 504 program provides loans advantageous to borrowers for certain commercial purposes in combination with a regular bank loan.
A ROBS allows investors with 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts to use the funds to buy a business and pay for start-up costs.
Reservations “have been crazy,” she said. “We have a lot of people coming for Maine adventures — moose safaris, fishing, seaplane rides, whitewater rafting — and some just coming for a getaway.”
The Burgesses themselves love the outdoors.
“That was part of the draw,” she’s aid. “Both of us used to be out a lot more and realized we really missed it.”
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