House for Sale | Kokad-jo, Maine—It’s All Yours

Originally published in the May 1981 issue of Yankee.

The Maine village of Kokad-jo was not really what we expected it to be. We’ve been to hunting and fishing camps at Coburn Gore, Rangeley, and Rainbow Lake. They are remote, nestled in the woods, away from public roads and requiring travel by plane or boat to reach them. But Kokad-jo—a shortening of the real name for Kettle Mountain, Kokadjoweemqwasebemsis—although fairly distant from most everywhere, is easy enough to reach by driving 20 miles northeast from Greenville (which is northwest of Bangor) mostly on a paved road. Past Kokad-jo the road, now totally gravel, continues toward Ripogenus Dam and, some 25 miles away, Mt. Katahdin. 

The entire village of Kokad-jo is really an old-fashioned sporting camp although we did see four or five other private cabins in the area. But it’s laid out like a small town, which officially it is and has been since back into the last century. Then everything came to Kokad-jo by steamer (as far as Lily Bay on Moosehead Lake) and by ox team to supply the lumbering and sporting operations of the village. 

Specifically, there are available for purchase nine acres, a thousand feet of frontage on Roach Pond, a thousand feet on Roach River, eight fully equipped sporting camps (four on the river, four on the lake), plus the country store, which has on the second story year-round living quarters consisting of two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and bath. There is gas heat plus wood stove, a barn, two sheds, an ice house and an old inn, once of some note but which now probably ought to be torn down. 

There is no commercial power available at Kokad-jo but the camp does have its own generator (which works, even though it looks like a piece of burnt-out junk). Telephone service is available, lighting is by gas lamps, heat by wood stoves. The cabins, some clapboard and some constructed of logs, have gas cooking stoves, running water, and toilets. They’re rough but ready for immediate renting with an aluminum boat for each. 

When we arrived at Kokad-jo one day last February with Ron Masure, Greenville realtor and businessman, the camp’s owner, Robert R. Berzinis, was trying to jack up the foundation of what looked like the most dilapidated cabin in the camp. We couldn’t see him but we could hear him splashing around in the water and mud, struggling to move about in the very restricted crawl space under the cabin. He purchased the place four or five years ago and, as Ron says, “hasn’t let it deteriorate too much since then.” He didn’t want to pose for any photographs; as Kokad-jo’s only year-round resident, he spends his time “fishing and trying to escape the company of most people.” When he eventually struggled out from under the house, he seemed pleasant and friendly—but said he wanted to sell because it’s “gotten too crowded” and he. wants to “go further north.” His asking price for the whole town is $150,000. 

Actually, once you look past all the mud (our visit was during that February mild spell which created a mini mud season in Kokad-jo) and the junk strewn around because of toppled trash- cans, this is really a beautiful spot with wonderful clear views to the east and west of Katahdin and many other mountains. Also, not only is it excellent fishing—in fact we were told it is “the best fly fishing for salmon in the whole state of Maine”—but it is also known as Maine’s “prime moose-watching area.” We didn’t see any—but it sure looked like moose country. 

The store isn’t extensively stocked at present, probably because Robert Berzinis doesn’t seem very interested in courting customers, but there are supplies of food, clothing, hunting and fishing licenses, fishing and sporting gear, gasoline, and, of course, beer. In fact, the empties were a large portion of the trash lying about. 

“Obviously, it’s not the condition of the camp that will sell it,” Ron observed, but we both agreed that it would be a golden opportunity for someone or a couple who would respond to the beauty of the setting and the nice idea of owning your own Maine woods sporting camp that will attract well-paying customers. □□□

Yankee Magazine

More by Yankee Magazine