{"id":9935,"date":"2014-07-18T11:33:07","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T15:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=9935"},"modified":"2014-07-18T11:33:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T15:33:07","slug":"tycoon-for-a-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/tycoon-for-a-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Tycoon For A Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

July\/August 2014 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Indulge your inner Cornelius Vanderbilt\u00a0 with a stay at one of at least 33 former Bar Harbor rusticators\u2019 mansions turned inns and B&Bs.<\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/p>\n

\"Tycoons\"<\/a>Ivy Manor, 1930<\/p>\n

The handsome mansion cloaked in ivy at 194 Main Street was built in the 1930s by a family physician who maintained his office in what is now the lobby area. He lived in the rest of the house with his own family. Business must have been good. Six of the eight guest rooms have fireplaces. The guest rooms now have fanciful names like Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge; the private baths are finished with English tiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ivy\u2019s been here since the Thirties, and it changes with the seasons like the trees,\u201d says Christine Poole, co-proprietor with husband John Poole. \u201cIn the fall, the leaves turn incredible shades of orange. It\u2019s a sight.\u201d The Pooles are in their second season at Ivy Manor.<\/p>\n

The manor became an inn in 1996. There is a restaurant that\u2019s open to the public, Michelle\u2019s, on the premises, with an ambitious new head chef. \u201cLast summer, Glenn Close and her husband had dinner with us, which was fun. They were with a group from Jackson Lab.<\/p>\n

Christine says she was told by a repeat visitor to the inn that years ago, Prince William and Kate Middleton slipped in for dinner at Michelle\u2019s one night while quietly vacationing here during their courtship. \u201cOur guest says she caught sight of Kate on her way to the ladies room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle\u2019s started serving lunch this summer. \u201cWhen weather permits, we put people out in the front garden for lunch\u2013everyone wants to people-watch in Bar Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

BALANCE\u00a0 ROCK\u00a0 INN, 1903<\/p>\n

\u201cThe original mansion was built in 1903 for a railroad magnate from Scotland, Alexander Maitland,\u201d says Claire Conlon, general manager at Balance Rock Inn. \u201cHe was Henry Flagler\u2019s partner in the Florida East Coast Railway.\u201d In the heyday of rail travel, the One-Percenters needed those luxury overnight and dining railcars to shuttle family and staff from their Palm Beach winter palaces to their cool, New England summer cottages.<\/p>\n

Boston architects Andrews, Jacques and Rantoul, designers of more than a few Gilded Age mansions on Mt. Desert, drew the graceful shingle-style that\u2019s named for the hulking \u2018balance rock\u2019 you can find poised at a rakish angle on the beach nearby on the Shore Path.<\/p>\n

Bar Harbor tax rolls indicate that in 1939, the mansion was purchased by Harold Hartshorne, a professional ice dancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place was made into an inn around 1986. We\u2019ve expanded since the 1990s. The original house was a three-story mansion. There was a croquet court where the pool is now. Our carriage house was originally the stables.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an inn, but we have a full staff\u2013bell men, housekeeping staff, bartenders and waiters,\u201d says Conlon. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a dining room, plus our veranda bar, which attracts non-guests, too. We tend to stay pretty booked, but we can find available rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly Joel has stayed here, and I know Aerosmith did too, before I got here. We had a sheik once, too, I believe from Dubai.\u201d<\/p>\n

ULLIKANA INN, 1885<\/p>\n

Ullikana\u2013the name could not sound farther from the golden age of Bar Harbor\u2019s\u00a0 summer colony.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a mystery,\u201d says innkeeper H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Harton about the name of the gracious Tudor mansion-turned-inn, built in 1883 for Alpheus Hardy, a wealthy China trader. \u201cThe name\u2019s most likely Hawaiian. The original owner had a trading post in Hawaii, and ships. His great-grandchildren stopped in one time, and they confirmed this. They didn\u2019t know what the name meant, either. Hardy never told.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mansion is a stunning construction of stone and timber; the breakfast terrace overlooks the harbor. The common rooms are a mix of antiques, elegance, comfort, and colorful fabric. H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s eclectic collection of pottery pitchers and teapots is set about in uncontrived clusters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHardy never actually stayed here, though,\u201d she continues in her musical, French-inflected accent. Oh? \u201cA scissors fell on his foot, gangrene developed, and he died. It\u2019s sad. But his widow summered here for many years. Later, it was owned by a couple\u2013scientists at Jackson Lab\u2013who eventually turned it into a B&B. I\u2019m told Julia Child was their visitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

H\u00e9l\u00e8ne and her husband, Roy Kasindorf,\u00a0 are now in their 24th season. She\u2019s discreet about her guests. \u201cBut I can tell you, no movie stars. No Johnny Depp, I\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

ATLANTEAN COTTAGE, 1903<\/p>\n

Built in 1903 by noted architect Frederick Savage, Atlantean Cottage served as his\u00a0 personal residence and as a model home as he sought commissions from the wealthy summer rusticators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Atlantean, at 8,000 square feet,\u00a0 seems large today, but was quite modest by summer cottage standards of the era. However, it incorporates many of Savage\u2019s design standards,\u201d says innkeeper Gary Rich. \u201cThat melding of English Tudor revival with Maine shingle style.<\/p>\n

\u201cSavage never missed an opportunity\u2013he was an astute businessman, and he designed over 300 buildings on Mount Desert Island. He\u2019d taken over the Bear Mountain Granite Quarry here, so the Atlantean\u2019s first floor is built of fine-cut granite blocks, with the Tudor timbers above. He made good use of that granite. His design of Breakwater for John Innes Kane, the grandson of John Jacob Astor, was similar to Atlantean\u2013including the granite base\u2013but Breakwater\u2019s about three times the size of Atlantean.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in our 10th season here, and quite booked already, but we still have the occasional room available.\u201d The kitchen does not serve meat at breakfast, but they do serve eggs and dairy. \u201cSome guests actively seek out our vegetarian menu; many don\u2019t even notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do Gilded-Age Bar Harbor history enthusiasts ever come calling? \u201cEvery now and then people turn up to introduce themselves as the great-grand something-or-other of Frederick Savage. To use an expression, there are a lot of Savages up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivy Manor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Closing mid-October until May, 8 rooms, $99-$355, ivymanor.com 288-2138<\/p>\n

Ullikana Inn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mid-May to the end of October, 10 rooms, $170-$365, ullikana.com 288-9552<\/p>\n

Balance Rock Inn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mid-May to end of October, 27 rooms & suites, $125-$635, balancerockinn.com 288-2610<\/p>\n

Atlantean Cottage\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

May to the end of October, 8 rooms, $150-$260,
\natlanteaninn.com 288-5703<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July\/August 2014
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