Correction: A previous version of this story misstated which part of the Robbins family owns the land. The parcel is owned by members of the extended Robbins family and not the three siblings who own Robbins Lumber.
A little over a month after the deadly fire and explosion at the Robbins Lumber mill in Searsmont, more than a thousand acres of forest that belongs to members of the extended Robbins family has been listed for $2.6 million.
The parcel, called the Robbins Family Forest, is owned by Kingdom Land LLC. That company is owned by members of the extended Robbins family but not by Catherine Robbins-Halsted, Alden Robbins and Jim A. Robbins, the three siblings who own Robbins Lumber.
The Robbins Family Forest covers roughly 1,380 acres in Montville and includes two miles of waterfront on Ledge Pond and Kingdom Bog, working forestland, an active gravel pit, a cabin and a fully operational sugar house, according to a prospectus for the property, which is being sold by LandVest.
The Robbins family has owned the property for nearly three decades, the prospectus says. The land contains about $1.2 million worth of timber, about a third of which is white pine, the Robbins Lumber company’s main product.
The property’s 575 square foot cabin is “a cherished basecamp for forestland adventures and lasting memories,” according to the prospectus, and has been used extensively by family and rented to hunters for approximately $2000 per week.
A working maple sugarhouse that produces 30 to 35 gallons of syrup per season is also offered with the property. Sugaring season draws “generations of family members, neighbors, and friends” while the sap is running, the prospectus says.
Robbins-Halsted said in a statement that “the transaction is unrelated to Robbins Lumber’s operations, finances, rebuilding efforts, or the recent accident.”
In addition to the Montville land, the extended Robbins family and their companies, including Robbins Lumber, own and manage more than 30,000 acres of forest in Maine, according to the Robbins Lumber website and municipal tax records. This includes more than 20,000 acres surrounding Nicatous Lake in Hancock County.
The Robbins family opened its first sawmill in 1881, and has grown to become one of the Northeast’s largest white pine suppliers.
Jim A. and Alden Robbins were badly injured in the May 15 fire and explosion at the Searsmont lumber mill, as was Lily Robbins, Alden’s daughter, an EMT who responded to the blaze. All three are being treated at Mass General Hospital in Boston.
The fire also claimed the lives of two firefighters — Andrew Cross and Wayne Woodbury — and injured several others first responders and mill employees, some of whom remain hospitalized at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Hospital officials declined to specify how many remain in the hospital.