A sprawling oceanfront estate in Knox County has sold for $9.75 million, making it one of the most expensive homes purchased in Maine history.

The estate, dubbed Seasmoke Farm, now belongs to Richard and Linda Breeden, according to local property records. Richard Breeden is a former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and held economic advisory roles under the Reagan, Clinton, and George H.W. Bush presidential administrations.

Located on 32 acres at 76 Seasmoke Road in St. George, the 3,700-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom home was listed for $10.9 million and sat on the market for nearly a year.

An aerial photo shows Seasmoke Farm, which sold for what is thought to be the sixth-highest home price in state history. Photo by Kate Sfeir

According to Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, which represented the sellers, the sale is the highest-priced one in Maine this year, the highest-priced property ever sold in St. George, and the sixth-highest residential sale in state history.

The seaside property features almost 1,850 feet of ocean frontage, the main house, two seasonal cottages, an outdoor swimming pool, and a one-bedroom pool house. There are also two barns, an orchard, and a pasture for farm animals – currently alpacas. The property, built in 2013, was featured in Architectural Digest in 2016.

The Breedens purchased the home from Paul and Courtney Amos under Tibbetts Road Place LLC. Last year, the owners paid $52,298 in property taxes on the estate, which was assessed at $5.27 million in 2020. Seasmoke Farm was originally owned by Earle and Ruth Tibbetts.

This is the second multimillion-dollar home the Breedens have purchased in recent years.

In 2020, the couple bought a 10-bedroom, 13,342-square-foot mansion in Lantana, Florida, about 10 miles south of Palm Beach, for $9.4 million, according to real estate publication The Real Deal.

The Florida house is almost four times the size of the couple’s new Maine residence. It was not immediately clear if they intend to live in Maine year-round.

Nicknamed “King Richard,” Breeden cut a colorful figure during his time at the SEC, wearing striped suspenders, driving a red sports car, and speaking his mind, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported that he told his staff he wanted insider traders left “naked, homeless, and without wheels.”

In 2012, the federal Department of Justice appointed Breeden to oversee the Madoff Victim Fund, which has distributed more than $4 billion to investors swindled by Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.

PLENTY OF COMPETITION

Seasmoke Farm took the title of priciest sale this year from a three-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot waterfront home in York, which sold for $5.25 million in January, according to Realtor.com. A Cumberland Foreside mansion was the next-largest sale, going that month for $2.9 million. Another York property moved into the No. 2 spot in March, selling for $3.9 million.

But there’s a wild card – a Down East estate that’s for sale and, if purchased, might blow Seasmoke Farm out of the water.

Shown is part of the kitchen at Seasmoke Farm, the St. George estate that sold for $9.75 million. Photo by Kate Sfeir

Wanakin, a 10-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot oceanfront home on Mount Desert Island, is currently listed for $19.5 million. It has been on the market for over a year and was initially listed for $25 million.

The sale in St. George comes as home prices in some Maine counties have begun to stabilize after nearly three years of rising prices – while prices in other counties climb from a previous plateau. Between February and April of this year, the median home sale price in Knox County was $395,000, up from $375,000 over the same three-month span in 2022. The average Knox County home sale in 2019 was $236,125.

Sotheby’s sold the most expensive home in the state in 2020, a $7.6 million Cape Elizabeth mansion.

Jonathan Bush Jr., nephew of one former president and cousin of another, purchased that 15,000-square-foot, oceanside home previously owned by Eliot Cutler, the now-incarcerated two-time Maine gubernatorial candidate.