Dan Fogelberg in Deer Isle. Photo courtesy of Jean Fogelberg
Musician Dan Fogelberg’s longtime home in Deer Isle was where he took breaks between tours, found inspiration for his songwriting and chose to live the final years of his life.
Now, the waterfront property off Eggemoggin Reach is on the market for $2.4 million, and many of his belongings from the estate will be sold at auction this month.
Fogelberg, who is known for sentimental soft-rock hits from the ’70s and ’80s like “Same Old Lang Syne” and “Leader of the Band,” died of prostate cancer in 2007 at the age of 56 while living at the Deer Isle home he built with his wife, Jean Fogelberg.
His ashes were scattered in nearby Eggemoggin Reach, the inspiration for his song “The Reach” from the 1981 album “The Innocence Age,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard albums chart.
Dan and Jean Fogelberg moved into this house in 2004, the same year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Photo by Dean Tyler Photography, courtesy of Jill Knowles of The Christopher Real Estate Group
Jean Fogelberg is selling the property because she is moving back to her home state of California, she said in an interview last week. The 6,575-square-foot waterfront house sits on 5.5 acres and is listed by The Christopher Group, based in Blue Hill.
“Sometimes in the evenings, we’d sit on the couch in his office and play guitar,” she said, reminiscing about time spent at the home with her husband. “We had this Beatles complete songbook, and we’d play and sing and harmonize.”
Dan Fogelberg bought the Deer Isle property, where there had been an old captain’s cottage, in 1978, after his first visit to Maine, his wife said. After the two met in 1996, they began designing a new home for themselves on the same site, while living in Colorado. They began construction in 2002 and, though the house wasn’t completely finished, moved there in 2004 – the same year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. They decided he would undergo treatment in Boston so they could continue living in Maine and finishing their forever home, she said.
The pair on a Maine beach in the summer of 2004. They were living on a boat at the time, and Dan had just begun cancer treatment in Boston, but his wife says they were both full of hope and determination. Photo courtesy of Jean Fogelberg
Jean Fogelberg said her husband was happiest in the time between summer and fall tours, when he could be in Maine exploring the outdoors. She said he knew all the islands and loved to sail and explore around them.
“He could really get away there,” she said. “No one could reach him on the boat, so he would write songs, and he could just head out, and he’d go up to Nova Scotia or head south. He’d just explore rugged places. He loved rugged beauty.”
Dan Fogelberg’s Deer Isle property off Eggemoggin Reach inspired his song “The Reach.” Photo by Dean Tyler Photography, courtesy of Jill Knowles of The Christopher Real Estate Group
He sings about the rugged nature of the coast of Maine in “The Reach”:
“The lobstermen’s boats come returning/ with the catch of the day in their holds/ and the young boys cold and complaining/ The fog meets the beaches and out on/ the Reach it is raining,” the song goes.
Jean Fogelberg is also auctioning art and other items from the house through Thomaston Place Auction Galleries. She said she wanted her husband’s fans to have the chance to own something that belonged to him.
“The fans have been great. I try to keep them in the loop, and I knew they would want to know about the auction if there was any way they could have something of Dan’s,” she said. “It was important to me that they be the first to know when it was up.”
The auction, taking place June 28-30, will include 144 items owned by Fogelberg, including a pair of Buccellati silver candlesticks, estimated to go for $2,500, as well as his collection of Navajo items, some expected to sell for up to $5,000.
Jean and Dan Fogelberg. Photo courtesy of Jean Fogelberg
Fogelberg had an affinity for Native American art, collecting it over time and often using it in his performances. His wife said his interest in Native American culture stemmed from childhood, when he first saw a buffalo dance in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“It’s interesting when you can get an entire estate of somebody’s things, and you can see the diversity of their collecting, knowledge about collecting, their care and their interest in preservation of the history of mankind,” said Kaja Veilleux, auctioneer and owner of Thomaston Place.
Jean Fogelberg, who is a photographer, said she will miss a lot about living Maine.
“Probably what I’ll miss the most is the wildlife. As a photographer, Maine is just a haven with such a variety of creatures to photograph,” she said. “The rocky beaches are wonderful for photography … the New England towns, and the architecture. That’s what I’ll miss, but I can always come back and shoot again.”
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