A bankruptcy auction of Portland’s historic Danforth Inn was postponed Friday to give the current owners more time to work out a potential sale.

The auction began with the mortgage holder, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, putting in a bid for $1.67 million, but then the auction was immediately postponed to Dec. 5, said Stef Keenan of Keenan Auction Co., which handled the event.

The owners, Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, who also own the Camden Harbour Inn, filed for bankruptcy in March to stave off a foreclosure. They have said that a couple has a purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the Portland inn at 163 Danforth St. but are seeking financing for the transaction. The delay will give the couple more time to complete the transaction with Brunyanszki and Verest.

Keenan noted that an auction sale or a sale to a buyer outside of the auction will need approval from federal bankruptcy court.

After a previous auction was delayed by the bankruptcy filing, the nine-bedroom inn was put on the market for $2.6 million, but got no takers. Brunyanszki and Verest opened a restaurant and bar after buying the inn for $2.4 million in 2014, but closed them in March. They are continuing to operate the inn and said they have sufficient equity to continue the business as they seek the sale.

The inn was built in 1823 and was a private residence until it was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in 1941, which used it as a rectory until 1991. It was converted to an inn in 1995.


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