File photo / Laurie Schreiber
A beehive oven is set in the back of an original fireplace made of handmade bricks.
April 11, 2022
Midwest couple with hospitality experience buys an 18th century Deer Isle inn
Courtesy / Pilgrim’s Inn
The Pilgrim’s Inn’s historic nature and location on a quiet island road were among the attractions for the buyers, a couple from Missouri.
A Midwest couple had a three-year plan to find an inn to buy in Maine as the next step in their careers.
They checked that off the list when they found the turnkey Pilgrim’s Inn in Deer Isle through an internet search and then visited the spot.
“Everything else we looked at failed by comparison,” said Albert Schmurr.
Schmurr and his wife Lindsay bought the inn, at 20 Main St., from Nicole Neder and Scott Hall for $1.42 million.
Dana Moos of Swan Agency brokered the deal.
The inn consists of three cottages, each with an independent entrance, and the main building with 12 guest rooms.
Pumpkin pine floors
The sellers had owned the inn since 2017. It was built in 1793 by Ignatius Haskell as a private home. Haskell was one of the maritime community’s most influential residents, and his home became known as the Squire Ignatius Haskell House, according to the business’s website.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the building is one of the oldest in Deer Isle. It first operated as an inn from 1890 to 1944 when it was known as the Ark and was run by Elizabeth Haskell.
In 1975, after being vacant for many years, Pilgrim’s Inn was established. Over the past 30 years, the house has undergone renovations, though most original details were kept intact. Features include post-and-beam architecture, wide pumpkin pine floors, and eight-foot-wide fireplaces in the common rooms.
Missouri concessionaires
For more than a decade, the Schmurrs ran resorts at three state parks in Missouri.
Courtesy / Pilgrim’s Inn
Albert and Lindsay Schmurr moved from Missouri to buy the 18th century Pilgrim’s Inn in Deer Island.
“We’d always had a love for the East Coast and spent time here,” said Schmurr. “It was a lifelong goal that, once we did something different, it would be on the East Coast.”
When the couple decided to start a family, they throught that would be a good time to move.
“It was a three-year plan,” said Schmurr. “When we went to the Pilgrim’s Inn, the three-year plan became a nine-month plan.”
Before they met, Al served time in the U.S. Army, following in his father’s footsteps as retired Air Force. Growing up in a military family, he lived all over the world.
Lindsay was born and raised in Omaha, Neb.
The two met in a hospitality management program at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. They decided to purchase a resort in Missouri and for 13 years served as concessionaires at three state parks in Missouri.
“Over the years we have gained knowledge from our businesses running cabins, motels, restaurants, marinas, swimming pools and more,” they said in their bio.
Living and working in the Ozarks, they became accustomed to running a seasonal business. During the off-season, they’ve traveled the U.S. and abroad, and got married in Italy in 2012.
With one small child and another on the way, they were ready to put down roots.
Internet shopping
They knew they wanted to be in Maine when they made a list of desirable features. That included being near the ocean “and the great outdoors” in a state that was not overpopulated, “with good people and you can still afford to live there,” said Schmurr.
The couple did some “internet shopping,” came across Dana Moos’s website and reached out to her.
“We had scheduled to look at four inns,” said Schmurr. “Pilgrim’s Inn was the first.”
They were taken by the harbor view and historic nature of the structure.
“You walk in and there are pumpkin pine floors that are 24-inch-wide planks,” he said. “Every room was modernized with paint and pictures and bedding but they still have that feel of a historical building.”
He added, “Once we made the offer, the next day we found out we were going to have a son.”
The couple financed the deal through a cash down payment and a loan from Bangor Savings Bank.
Courtesy / Pilgrim’s Inn
The inn includes a main building with 12 guest rooms plus three cottages and a lawn that rolls down to the harbor.
The seasonal property needs little in terms of renovation, except for turning what’s currently the owner’s quarters into an additional rental space and building a separate cottage for themselves elsewhere on the acreage.
“The previous owners did a great job of beings stewards,” said Schmurr. “It’s about maintaining a 300-year-old building at this point.”
The couple got a good introduction to Maine’s weather when they drove up for the move-in during a sleet storm. They’ll continue to operate the property seasonally and will reopen a restaurant inside the inn, the Whale’s Rib Tavern, that had been serving breakfast to guests but had been closed to the public for the last three or four years.
“We’ve had a really great reaction from the locals as far as reopening the restaurant,” said Schmurr. “Everyone’s been very warm, stopping by and saying hi. We’re here for a good long time.”
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