A historic, multi-generational family lobster pound on Mount Desert Island is for sale for $6 million.
Thurston’s Lobster Pound features a more than 3-decade-old restaurant overlooking Bass Harbor with signature bright yellow awnings and an 80-year-old wholesale operation. The business supports local fishermen by supplying fuel and bait while purchasing their daily lobster hauls.
The sale of the historic lobster pound follows the slow but steady decline of the region’s most quintessential profession: lobster fishing.
The lobster pound in the village of Bernard, on the quieter, southern edge of MDI was recently listed for sale Wednesday by LandVest realty group. The sprawling 1.53-acre property includes a restaurant, commercial lobster pound business, commercial wharves, a fuel dock, equipment to operate the business, an office and a two-bedroom employee apartment, among other amenities, according to the listing.
LandVest has received two inquiries on the property so far, according to listing agent Scott McFarland.
“We’re hoping that whoever buys it will keep it pretty much status quo,” McFarland said.
Thurston’s has some of Bass Harbor’s oldest structures, a few of which have existed since the 1860s, according to the Island Institute, a nonprofit that helps coastal communities navigate for climate and economic change.
Thurston’s was among dozens of commercial piers spread out along Maine’s coast to be damaged from back-to-back 2024 winter storms, which also battered Seawall Road near Southwest Harbor. That road will be closed through October to be permanently fixed.
Thurston’s received a share of a $250,000 Island Institute grant, split among 52 businesses, following the severe storms. It used the financial aid to rebuild sections of its damaged wharf, according to the institute.
The Bernard wholesale operation dates back to 1946, when Fred Thurston purchased the working waterfront property from a family member and began selling fuel and bait to local fishermen, according to the pier website.
Since then, the business has been passed down five generations, and is now owned by Michael and Elizabeth Radliffe. Their daughter and son-in-law, Christina and Derek Lapointe, oversee daily operations.
The Radcliffes opened the restaurant in 1993, and, barring a brief six year break between 2006 and 2012 when they leased the property to a longtime employee, have operated the shorefront seafood eatery ever since. The restaurant now seats 178 guests between several indoor and outdoor spaces.
“They put their heart and soul into that business for many years, and they’re getting up in age,” McFarland said of the Radcliffe owners. “It’s just time to make a transition.”
The popular seafood restaurant is set to close for the season Friday.
The restaurant’s traditional lobster roll is frequently listed among the island’s best by locals and travelling food bloggers.
News of the listing left locals hoping the treasured spot would remain as is following its sale.
“Oh nooooooo, whoever buys it please keep it the same,” one Facebook user wrote. “It will break my heart if it’s not.”
An employee who answered the restaurant’s phone Thursday morning declined to immediately comment on the property being for sale.