A 65-acre private Maine island accessible by car at low tide listed for $8M

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An entire 65-acre island off of Deer Isle is for sale for nearly $8 million after decades of being owned by one family.

Sheephead Island, on the larger island’s western side near Sylvester Cove and the village of Sunset, is unusual for its size and privacy, but also its accessibility: at low tide, it can be reached by car.

Frank Veneroso, an economic and investment strategy adviser, bought the island in 1979 from Stanton Garfield, grandson of president James Garfield, who served only 6 months in office in 1881. It was a saltwater farm from 1794 to 1884, Veneroso told Portland Monthly magazine in 2021, and he worked to make it look like a 19th-century farm again.

 “We wanted a house with lots of light and views, but that looked like it had been there for two hundred years,” he told the magazine.

The island now features two homes — a five-bedroom Colonial and a four-bedroom guest house. There’s also an artist studio, boathouse and deepwater dock with a ramp, float and mooring on the island’s northeast side, where it’s sheltered from the wind.

The island has been on and off the market for years; it can take time to find the right buyer for a property of that magnitude, listing agent Joseph Sortwell said.

He also highlighted the island’s “rambling shoreline,” which features granite ledges, tidal pools and beaches. The island itself has fields of lupine, forest and a swimming pond, according to the listing.