Town Hill parcel had been known as Brigadoon Subdivision
May 02, 2026
BAR HARBOR—In a town that is actively looking for more ways to make homes, almost 180-acres of land off the Crooked Road in Bar Harbor is now for sale and contains five housing lots with potential for more.
The property is currently owned by Christopher Bettencourt and Denise Carey Bettencourt and was called the Brigadoon Subdivision when approved for five housing lots by the Bar Harbor Planning Board in 2024.
According to its listing, “This expansive 179.2-acre property is one of the largest land parcels currently available in all of Bar Harbor. It features 14 carefully designed lots, with five already approved and ready for construction. This presents immediate opportunities for custom home building or a small residential project.”
The next largest property listed for sale in the town is 9.37 waterfront acres on Belle Grande Drive. That is listed for $924,500.
Some of the lots within the parcel couldn’t be offered for sale until the road into the site is built. Part of lot five couldn’t be built on or crossed and will likely remain undeveloped.
“We have to work with the site and with Mother Nature and this has come together well,” landscape architect and project representative Perry Moore had said about the site in 2024.
At the time, the lot had a proposed road in an area where now multiple trees have fallen down in past winter storms.
With portions of the site within a five-kilometer radius of the habitat of an endangered species of bat, the Bettencourts had rethought the project, in a way that would require no wetland alterations.
According to Moore, the northern long-eared bats are on Mount Desert Island. The small bats were reclassified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. There are federal rules that keep wetland alterations from happening within a three-mile radius of their location, he’d said. Those rules could impact development of housing sites in Bar Harbor if those sites have wetlands on them.
The bats have been historically located within three miles of an approximately 180-acre lot (“Brigadoon”) off the Crooked Road in Town Hill. The subdivision was originally conceived as being divided into 14 housing lots and currently, partially because of the bats, that proposal has been shrunk to five five-acre lots.
Because of the bats and other considerations, the original proposed subdivision plan had been scaled back in 2024 from its initial 14-lot sketch plan.
According to its listing, “Located in the mid-island area, this parcel strikes an excellent balance between accessibility and privacy. It is just minutes away from the entrances to Acadia National Park, providing easy access to the park’s iconic landscapes, which include rugged granite peaks rising from the Atlantic, sweeping coastal views, dense evergreen forests of spruce and fir, sparkling lakes and ponds, and miles of scenic carriage roads and hiking trails. The surrounding region showcases the best of coastal Maine, featuring dramatic rocky shorelines, vibrant fall foliage, abundant wildlife, and peaceful natural settings that attract visitors and residents year after year.”
The parcel has approximately 1,493 feet of frontage on Crooked Road. There has also been extensive pre-development work at the site.
According to the April 23 listing by Lamacchia Realty, Inc., “Its proximity to conserved lands further enhances a sense of seclusion amidst the island’s natural beauty.”
BAR HARBOR NOTICE TO RESIDENTS
This is from the Town of Bar Harbor and just missed our briefs, so we thought we’d share it here to make sure people saw it.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Planning Board Visits Brigadoon
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November 6, 2023
Endangered Bats Could Make Developing Homes in Town Hill Difficult
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February 1, 2024
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bats-in-acadia-facing-challenges-but-hanging-on.htm
- https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/statemonthly.html
- https://www.houzeo.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house-maine/
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