July 31, 2010 --BAR HARBOR, Maine -- A well-known inn property has been bought out of bankruptcy by an international resort company with local holdings.

The Ledgelawn Inn, originally built in 1904, has been purchased by Ocean Properties Ltd., which also owns the Harborside and Regency hotels in Bar Harbor, the Samoset Resort in Rockport and other Maine properties. The firm owns more than 100 resorts and hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

The 33-room Ledgelawn Inn, which includes a 12-room annex built in 1982, was put up for auction in March by Machias Savings Bank, which had foreclosed on the property after the previous owners, Joan and Daniel Mills, defaulted on their mortgage payments. The Mills filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Bangor in February.

Representatives of Ocean Properties attended the March 19 auction, but according to the firm that conducted the auction on behalf of the bank, no acceptable bids were submitted at that time.

According to Bar Harbor's official online assessors database, the assessed value of the property is nearly $2.9 million. The Mills bought the inn and the 1.45-acre parcel of land it sits on in 2005 for $2.8 million.

Eben Salvatore, Ocean Properties' director of operations for Mount Desert Island, said Friday that after the auction the company maintained contact with the bank and was able to reach a sale agreement about a month ago. He wasn't sure what the purchase price was -- that was handled by the company's main office in Portsmouth, N.H. -- but said it was more than $1 million.

Salvatore said the inn needs a lot of repairs, beginning with leaks in the roof, and renovation work has begun.

"It just needs to be restored," Salvatore said of the inn. "It's got a ton of history. It's got great character."

Salvatore acknowledged that, with only 33 rooms, the inn is relatively small compared with Ocean Properties' other Maine hotels. The Regency has more than 270 rooms and the Harborside has more than 180.

Salvatore said the company may decide to run the Ledgelawn as a bed and breakfast. The company may consider increasing the parking on site, which could lead to it adding a few more rooms to the inn.

"We're still considering what to do," Salvatore said of Ocean Properties' ultimate plans for the property. "Whatever we do there will be small and quaint."

Ocean Properties will have other construction crews in Bar Harbor this fall and winter, when it begins work on a planned $12 million hotel on West Street, overlooking the harbor in downtown Bar Harbor, according to Salvatore. He said work between the two properties could be coordinated as schedules allow.

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