The Asticou Inn is an inn in Northeast Harbor, Maine. It was built in 1883. In 1899, it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt over the course of two years.
The rear of the building overlooks the Northeast Harbor inlet, which opens out to the Atlantic Ocean.
The inn has been owned by the Asti-Kim Corporation since 1965 and, between 2015 and 2019, was managed by the Acadia Corporation.[1] Tim Harrington's Kennebunkport Resort Collection, which also owns the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor, became the current managers of the inn in 2023.[2] The inn began a major $10 million renovation in early 2024, involving the removal of the rear and front porches. It will be closed for the remainder of 2024.[3]
There are 50 guest rooms:[3] 33 in the main inn, plus 17 in six adjacent buildings: Cranberry Lodge, Blue Spruce, Bird Bank, and three "Topsiders".
The inn closes for the seven months between Columbus Day (late October) and Memorial Day (late May).
History
Around 1820, John Savage II (1801–1868),[4] son of John and Sarah Savage, 1798 settlers in Northeast Harbor, built a farmhouse on the site now occupied by the inn. Known as the Old House,[4] he lived there with his wife, Bath, Maine, native[5] Climena (1801–1884).[6] After being moved a short distance to accommodate the building of the inn, the farmhouse was later moved to Asticou Way, across Peabody Drive, where it stood until it was torn down in February 2013 after standing intact for almost 200 years.[4][7]
John Savage had seven children, but the only one to survive into maturity was son Augustus Chase ("A.C.") Savage (1832–1911).[6] (One of his others sons, Samuel Tyler, was killed in 1865 at the age of 23 shortly after returning home from the Civil War,[4] while the other sons died of tuberculosis and other diseases. Each of the daughters died young.)[6] Augustus lived with his wife, Emily Manchester (1834–1914), in the 1854-built Harbor Cottage (now Cranberry Lodge), which sits near the apex of the corner of Peabody Drive (almost directly across from both Blue Spruce and Bird Bank, which are the other two "Asticou Cottages" that are part of the inn).[8] A.C. and Emily Savage had eight children.[6][9]
Savage correctly predicted that an overflow of vacationers to Bar Harbor would greatly benefit Northeast Harbor.[8] In 1883, across the road from Harbor Cottage, he built the Asticou Inn. (The name Asticou comes from a Penobscot Indian word believed to mean boiling kettle.)[8]
Asticou Inn, Fred Savage's Hilltop Cottage, and Harbor Cottage, around 1895 — four years before a fire destroyed the Asticou Inn
The original building was destroyed by a fire 16 years after opening. It was rebuilt by A.C. and his son, George (1873–1922). Another of A.C.'s sons, Frederick Lincoln Savage (1861–1924), was the architect.[10] It reopened in 1901.[8] The inn was spared during the great fires of 1947.
The combined Savage families took active parts in the day-to-day management of the business, with the women establishing the inn's reputation for hearty New England food and the children picking berries that contributed to desserts and pies.[8]
George Savage died in 1922, aged about 48. His 19-year-old son, Charles Kenneth Savage (1903–1979), was brought back from his boarding school in Boston, Massachusetts, to help his mother, Mabelle (1877–1965), maintain the inn's tradition.
When Charles married, his wife, Katharine Larcher Savage (1905–2001),[11] became the manager of the inn's kitchen, and her pastries, breads, ice creams and desserts proved very popular.[8] Charles and Katharine ran the inn until 1964. They had a daughter and a son.
Some members of the Savage family were initially interred in a family cemetery around where the cottages Blue Spruce and Bird Bank stand today. They were moved to Forest Hill Cemetery, on the other side of the azalea garden, which was created by A.C. Savage in 1904.[12] Frederick Savage, meanwhile, is buried in Ledgelawn Cemetery on Cromwell Harbor Road, along with his wife of 23 years, Alice (1879–1961), who survived him by 37 years.[13]
In 1965, when Mabelle Savage died, ownership of the inn passed from the Savage family to the Asti-Kim Corporation,[14] a group of local businesspeople and summer residents.[13][15]
Later personnel
A bench at the inn commemorating the services of Guy Toole and Muffy Cyr
Richard M. Savage, a seventh-generation family member of the inn's founders (his grandfather was John C. Savage, one of A.C. Savage's eight children),[16] was its general manager up until the early 21st century.[17] Savage's son, Tom, died unexpectedly in 2020 at the age of 46.[18]
Guy Toole (1938–1998) was an employee at the inn for 44 consecutive seasons (1954 to 1998). He was hired as a teenaged potwasher by Katharine Savage, eventually progressing to become the inn's concierge.[8][15]
Marilyn "Muffy" Cyr (1950–2015) worked at the inn for 41 years (1972 to 2013) in various capacities, including chambermaid, head housekeeper, desk clerk, reservations manager, special functions assistant, and floral arranger.[19] For the latter part of her time at the inn, Tom Weverstad was the special functions director.[20]
Gallery
The inn's welcome sign
Cranberry Lodge, one of the inn's six adjacent accommodations. The section from the steps and to the right is the original part of the structure
Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park includes about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and portions of sixteen smaller outlying islands.
Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination.
Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of 108 square miles (280 km2) it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous United States, and the second-largest island on the Eastern Seaboard, behind Long Island and ahead of Martha's Vineyard. According to the 2010 census, the island has a year-round population of 10,615. In 2017, an estimated 3.5 million tourists visited Acadia National Park on MDI. The island is home to numerous well-known summer colonies such as Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor.
Charles Eliot was an American landscape architect. Known for pioneering principles of regional planning, naturalistic systems approach to landscape architecture, and laying the groundwork for conservancies across the world. Instrumental in the formation of The Trustees of Reservations, the world's first land trust, playing a central role in shaping the Boston Metropolitan Park System, designing a number of public and private landscapes, and wrote prolifically on a variety of topics.
Islesford is a hamlet located on Little Cranberry Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. It is one of the five islands of the town of Cranberry Isles. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Mount Desert Island, which is the site of Acadia National Park. As of 2013, the year-round population was approximately sixty-five.
Bear Island is an 11-acre (4.5 ha) island located in Maine, United States. It is one of the five islands of the Town of Cranberry Isles. The island is located just off Northeast Harbor and south of Mount Desert Island.
Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie, Baron de Saint-Castin (1652–1707) was a French military officer serving in Acadia and an Abenaki chief. He is the father of two prominent sons who were also military leaders in Acadia: Bernard-Anselme and Joseph. He is the namesake of Castine, Maine. He died at Pau, France, in 1707.
Sutton Island, in Hancock County, Maine, United States, is a small, private island south of Mount Desert Island, and north of Cranberry Isles. Its dimensions are roughly 2.1 km on its east–west axis by 1.1 km north to south.
Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States.
Acadia National Park, largely on Mount Desert Island, off the coast of the U.S. state of Maine, was created in part by land and other donations by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Between 1919 and 1931, Rockefeller, who was opposed to the introduction of automobiles on the island, personally oversaw the construction of a network of carriage roads, closed to motorized vehicles, on the eastern half of the island, including sixteen granite bridges and two gatehouses. The major portion of this network now falls within the bounds of the national park, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Reef Point Estate was located in Bar Harbor, Maine, United States, on Mount Desert Island. Reef Point was the coastal “cottage” of Mary Cadwalder Rawle and Frederic Rhinelander Jones, the parents of landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand (1872–1959). It stood beside Bar Harbor's Shore Path.
Mira Monte Inn is an historic Victorian building on Mount Desert Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It is now a nineteen-room bed and breakfast.
The Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine, United States, is a popular visitor attraction. It was created by lifelong resident of the village, Charles Kenneth Savage, in 1956. Much of the initial plant collection originated at Reef Point Estate in nearby Bar Harbor, the summer residence of renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. The collection was moved with the financial assistance of John D. Rockefeller Jr., including the weeping hemlock, just north of the main bridge.
The West Street Historic District is a residential historic district just adjacent to the main village of Bar Harbor, Maine. Extending from Eden Street to Billings Avenue, it encompasses a well-preserved concentration of summer "cottages" built during Bar Harbor's heyday as a resort for the wealthy in the early 20th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Gary Allen is an American long-distance runner, race director and entrepreneur. He is the founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon, the Millinocket Marathon & Half and the co-founder of the Downeast Sunrise Trail Relay and the Great Cranberry Island 50K Ultra Marathon.
Thuya Garden is a semi-formal herbaceous garden, in the style of Gertrude Jekyll, located at 15 Thuya Drive, Northeast Harbor, Maine. It is open daily from May through October.
Jordan Pond House is a restaurant in Seal Harbor, Maine. It is situated at the southwestern corner of the Park Loop Road, overlooking Jordan Pond from its southern shore. Two rôche moutonnées, known as "The Bubbles", provide the backdrop to the view from the house's lawn at the rear of the 60-acre property.
Frederick Lincoln Savage was an American architect, known as Mount Desert Island's most prolific native architect. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he designed over 300 cottages on the island and across Northeastern Maine, including Reverie Cove and the John Innes Kane Cottage in Bar Harbor, and Raventhorp in Southwest Harbor, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). He also designed the NRHP-listed West Gouldsboro Village Library in Gouldsboro, Maine.
Little Long Pond is a pond in Seal Harbor, Maine, United States, at the southern end of Mount Desert Island. Fed by Jordan Stream, a runoff of Jordan Pond, the pond is separated from Bracy Cove at the Gulf of Maine by a narrow causeway carrying State Route 3. It is officially called Long Pond, but has been given the Little prefix to differentiate it from other Long Ponds in the area. A 2.2 miles (3.5 km) trail circumnavigates the pond, while an offshoot leads to Jordan Pond House. Mostly flat on its eastern side, it rises somewhat from the pond's northern end to around halfway down its western side.
Augustus Chase Savage was an American businessman and hotelier. Along with his wife, Emily, he established the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor, Maine, in 1883. It is still in operation today.
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