N.H. bidders take drug dealer’s island home

FRYE ISLAND – Plenty of work remains on the remodeling of a lighthouse-inspired home seized from a Boston drug dealer, but there was no shortage of bidders for the unusual waterfront property.

Insulation is piled around the base of the house and studs protrude from unfinished walls and ceilings. A hot tub, still in its plywood box, promises a view through a wall of windows across Sebago Lake to the wooded shores of Raymond Neck.

The home was offered for sale, as is, for $322,000 earlier this month. After 20 showings, 10 hopeful buyers placed sealed bids before the property went under contract to a New Hampshire couple for an undisclosed price.

“It’s a unique property,” said Wini Rogers, the listing broker at Krainin Real Estate. “It has extraordinary views, a great waterfront and total privacy. Someone with vision can turn this into a spectacular property.”

Federal agents arrested the owner, Paul Lozier Jr., two years ago and charged him in a drug-selling conspiracy. Contractors, unpaid, walked away from the job. The U.S. Marshals Service seized the property and arranged for its sale.

Frye Island, located in the center of Maine’s second-largest lake, was developed in the 1960s as a vacation home community. It has become a hot real estate market, reflecting the demand for waterfront land in southern Maine.

The market was a bit quieter in 1985, when a couple from Massachusetts built their dream home on a steep, wooded lot on the island’s eastern shore.

The home’s defining feature – a three-story tower resembling a lighthouse – made it an instant landmark and topic of conversation among residents, said Don Hadley, an agent for Krainin Real Estate who has spent summers on the island since 1968.

But Hadley also remembers that the custom construction led to some quirky problems. Most notably, the builder miscalculated the ceiling height on the lower level.

“You almost had to duck when you walked around on that floor,” Hadley said.

When Lozier bought the house in 1999, he set out to fix that.

Lozier was, by most accounts, an occasional visitor who didn’t mingle with island residents. Rogers, who lives down the road, sold him an additional lot across from the house so he could have more privacy.

“He was a very private person,” she said. “He didn’t have any personal relationships on the island, as far as I know.”

Lozier, who could not be reached for comment, began spending thousands of dollars to upgrade and repair the home. He had a sagging foundation replaced and a new set of windows installed – after the hot tub was set in place.

But Lozier apparently wasn’t aware that federal agencies were investigating his involvement in a high-level scheme to sell MDMA, the synthetic stimulant known as Ecstasy, and OxyContin, the prescription painkiller, following a trail that led from Mexico to New York and the Boston area.

Along with a co-conspirator, Lozier was arrested in July 2001 and later indicted on conspiracy to possess MDMA and OxyContin. The government seized property in Massachusetts, including a pleasure boat and a Mercedes car, and later took his home on Frye Island.

Lozier is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 4, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

When some people see government-offered property, they expect bargain prices. That’s not the way it works, according to John Cooper, chief deputy of the U.S. Marshals Service in Maine. Homes are appraised at fair market value and area real estate agents make proposals to list the properties.

“We’re not giving away $10 Jeeps,” Cooper said.

Some offers for the Frye Island house were above the asking price. To get the highest selling price, Rogers told all the buyers to make their best, final offers, with no negotiations or counteroffers.

The new owner will have some work to do. Outside, the decks are missing railing and floorboards. Siding must be nailed onto the upper tower. Uninstalled cabinets and appliances wait in the unfinished kitchen. But these deficiencies are offset by 150 feet of lakefront, wooded privacy and the expansive view from most windows. On the top floor of the tower, a sliding door in the master bedroom leads out to a wraparound walkway.

“Just like a real lighthouse,” Rogers said.