800-acre hunting compound in rural Hancock County is selling for millions

An 800-acre hunting estate and lodge in eastern Hancock County is on the market for $4.5 million.

The property, known as Fox Pond Estate, overlooks Fox Pond on Route 182 about 20 miles east of Ellsworth. It is surrounded on three sides by the state-owned Donnell Pond Public Land , which includes hiking trails and access to roughly a half-dozen ponds, Tunk and Spring River lakes, and to the mountains of Tunk and Schoodic, among others.

“Get ready to immerse yourself in the Great Outdoors,” the listing webpage says.

The property includes a Douglas fir log cabin with more than 5,000 square feet of living space, a guest house, a garage with an upstairs apartment, a woodworking shop, a billiard room, an exercise room, shooting range and several outbuildings. With six miles of groomed trails, it offers hiking, hunting, kayaking, canoeing and fishing on the lodge property.

The buildings were constructed in 1994, according to Zillow’s listing. In all, the buildings have a total of six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and more than 9,000 feet of living space.

The main house sits on a peninsula that juts into Fox Pond, which is stocked annually with brook and brown trout . The main house and nearby buildings are largely shielded from view from Route 182, also known as Black Woods Road, which skirts the northern edge of Fox Pond.

Vehicle access to the property is restricted by a secure gate. The property is located in Township 10, part of the state’s Unorganized Territory. Cherryfield in Washington County is roughly 10 miles to the east.

Walter and Barbara Hennig, who have a mailing address in the nearby town of Franklin, own the estate and had been asking $5.5 million for it before reducing the price to $4.5 million. The state-assessed value for the property, which is used to determine its tax bill, is $1.3 million. The 2023 tax bill for the estate was $5,500.

The Hennigs acquired the property in the 1990s, according to information in the Hancock County Registry of Deeds database. In 1999, the Legislature approved a resolution in which the state and the Hennigs traded right-of-ways over the adjoining Hennig and Donnell Pond properties.

Walter Hennig , a hunting guide, said he and his wife developed the property mainly for their personal enjoyment. Without going into detail, he said they decided to sell simply because of the passage of time and because their plans have “dramatically” changed.

“We did everything,” Henning said of putting buildings and trails on the property. “It’s hiding in plain sight. It’s an ownership of love.”