West Street Historic District | |
![]() "La Rochelle", completed in 1902 | |
Location | West St. between Billings Ave. and Eden St., Bar Harbor, Maine |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°23′26″N68°12′36″W / 44.39056°N 68.21000°W Coordinates: 44°23′26″N68°12′36″W / 44.39056°N 68.21000°W |
Area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
Architect | Multiple |
Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian |
NRHP reference No. | 80000226 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 6, 1980 |
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. [1]
The main village of Bar Harbor is set at the northeastern end of Mount Desert Island on the central coast of Maine. It occupies a nub of land that projects slightly from the surrounding coast, and has coastlines that run east–west and north–south. The central business district is located near the center of this nub, focused on the junction of Mt. Desert Street and Main Street. West Street runs parallel to Mt. Desert Street, providing access to the north portion of the coastline. The district extends along West Street from its western junction with Eden Street (where it abuts the Harbor Lane–Eden Street Historic District) to Billings Avenue in the east. Lining the street on both sides are seventeen historically significant summer houses, all built between 1870 and the 1910s, representative of the period when Bar Harbor grew to its height as an exclusive summer resort community. It is home to one of the best concentrations of these summer houses to survive the island's 1947 fire, which destroyed a significant number of such properties. [2]
The oldest house in the district, "The Kedge", is a relatively modest Second Empire house that was built for A. Veazie (for whom it was formerly named) in 1871 and moved to the West Street area in 1886, when the street was formally laid out. It was modified in 1969 by Frederick Lincoln Savage when William Sterling was its occupant. [3] "Petunia Cottage" (1877) was the first building to be built on what became West Street; it is a Queen Anne Victorian that was one of the first houses to be built as a rental property. Following the layout of the road there was a boom in construction, with a significant number of architect-designed properties built lining the waterfront. Stylistically these early houses are all reflective of the Shingle, Queen Anne, or Colonial Revival, which were popular at the time. Three houses were designed by the noted Boston firm Rotch and Tilden, and two were designed by New York architect William A. Potter. [2]
In the early 20th century the houses began to increase in scale and elegance. The 41-room [4] "La Rochelle", completed in 1902, [5] is a lavish brick mansion in the style of a French chateau, and was one of the area's showpiece houses. It was purchased for around $4.5 million [4] from the Maine Seacoast Mission by the Bar Harbor Historical Society in 2019. [6] The Mission had named the building The Colket Center, after Campbell's Soup heirs Tristram and Ruth Colket, who donated the building to the organization in 1972, but "La Rochelle", which is carved into the masonry of the main gates, is the official name. [4]
The principal non-residential property, the Bar Harbor Club, is a large Tudor Revival building erected in 1929-30; its early membership included many of society's elites. While some of these summer estates remain in private ownership, a number of them are now owned by Maine Seacoast Mission, a social service agency. [2]
In 2017, the town of Bar Harbor revised its list of historic properties, which meant that those property owners will have imposed on them additional requirements should they wish to demolish or renovate said property. The West Street properties on the list: [7]
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a popular tourist destination in the Down East region of Maine and home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, and MDI Biological Laboratory. Until a catastrophic fire in 1947, the town was a noted summer colony for the wealthy. Bar Harbor is home to the largest parts of Acadia National Park, including Cadillac Mountain, the highest point within twenty-five miles (40 km) of the coastline of the Eastern United States.
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.
William Ralph Emerson was an American architect. He partnered with Carl Fehmer in Emerson and Fehmer.
The Bar Harbor Historical Society is the principal historical society of Bar Harbor, Maine and Mount Desert Island. The society's museum is located in the La Rochelle mansion at 127 West Street in Bar Harbor, having moved from 33 Ledgelawn Avenue in early 2019. The 41-room property was built in 1902 for George Bowdoin (1833–1913).
The Harbor Lane–Eden Street Historic District encompasses a neighborhood of Bar Harbor, Maine, consisting of architect-designed summer estates that served as the summer of elite society families of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Located northwest of the main village and fronting on Frenchman Bay, the district includes nine summer houses that survived a devastating 1947 fire which destroyed many other summer estates. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
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 Claremont Hotel is a historic hotel on Claremont Road in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Built in 1883, the main hotel building is one of the only 19th-century hotels to survive on Mount Desert Island. The hotel facilities include 24 rooms in the main hotel, six rooms in the Phillips House, and 14 housekeeping cottages on a 6-acre (2.4 ha) parcel overlooking Somes Sound.
Cleftstone is a historic summer house at 92 Eden Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. Built in 1881 and enlarged in 1894, it is an architecturally eclectic combination of elements from the Shingle, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival styles. It is now Cleftstone Manor, a hotel with seventeen guest rooms. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Cover Farm is an historic farmstead on Maine State Route 3 in the Hulls Cove village of Bar Harbor, Maine on Mount Desert Island. Its centerpiece is an early 19th-century Cape, set on a parcel of land owned until 1810 by the granddaughter of the island's original French proprietor, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The property was transformed in the early 20th century into a summer estate, with the addition of a Colonial Revival wing and a walled garden. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The Criterion Theatre is a historic performance space at 35 Cottage Street in downtown Bar Harbor, Maine. Built in 1932 when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height, it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine. The theatre has in recent years struggled for financial solvency but was purchased in 2014 by a nonprofit organization. After a major renovation, the theater reopened for business in May 2015. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Eegonos, known more recently as East of Eden, is a historic summer estate house at 145 Eden Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. Built in 1910 to a design by Boston architect Guy Lowell, it is one of a small number of summer houses to escape Bar Harbor's devastating 1947 fire, which resulted in the destruction of many such buildings. It is an architecturally sophisticated expression of Beaux Arts and Mediterranean Revival styles, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Farm House is a historic summer estate at 15 Highbrook Road in Bar Harbor, Maine. The estate includes a 19th-century farmhouse which was extensively altered in the 1920s to Colonial Revival designs by Arthur McFarland, who also designed a caretaker's cottage on the property. The property also includes a series of garden spaces designed by Beatrix Farrand. This work was done for Mildred McCormick, an heir to the fortune of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the combine harvester. The estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Highseas is a historic early 20th-century summer estate in Bar Harbor, Maine. It is located on Schooner Head Road on the east side of Mount Desert Island, surrounded by the lands of Acadia National Park. Built in 1912, it is one of the few grand summer estates to survive the island's devastating 1947 fire. It is now owned by the Jackson Laboratory and used as housing for students enrolled in its prestigious Summer Student Program. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Jesup Memorial Library is the public library of Bar Harbor, Maine. It is located in an architecturally distinguished Colonial Revival building at 34 Mount Desert Street in the town's main village. The building was built in 1910-11, donated to the community by Mrs. Morris K. Jesup in memory of her late husband, both of them longtime summer residents of the area, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for its architecture.
Raventhorp is a historic summerhouse in Southwest Harbor, Maine. It is prominently situated at the northern tip of Greening Island, which is set at the mouth of Somes Sound, the inlet dividing Mount Desert Island, between the villages of Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor. It was designed by the partnership of Fred L. Savage and Milton W. Stratton and built in 1895 for Joseph Gilbert Thorp and Anne Longfellow Thorp. The Shingle style house is an important surviving example of this collaboration, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Reverie Cove is a historic summer estate on Harbor Lane in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was designed by local architect Fred L. Savage and built in 1895, and is a particularly opulent example of Colonial Revival architecture. A later owner of the property was New York City mayor Abram Hewitt. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and as part of the Harbor Lane-Eden Street Historic District in 2009.
The Turrets is a historic summer estate house on Eden Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. Designed by New York City architect Bruce Price and built in 1895, the French Chateau-style building was one of the most elaborate built in Bar Harbor during its heyday as a summer resort. It is now part of the campus of the College of the Atlantic, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Philler Cottage, previously the Dark Harbor House Inn, is a historic house at Pendleton Point and Jetty Roads in Islesboro, Maine. Built in 1894 for a wealthy Philadelphia banker, it is a high-quality regional example of a Georgian Revival summer house. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
33 Ledgelawn Avenue is an historic building in Bar Harbor, Maine, formerly St. Edward's Convent. It is an architecturally distinguished building designed by local architect Milton Stratton and built in 1917 in the Jacobethan style. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. It was home to the Bar Harbor Historical Society until early 2019; it is now vacant and on the market.
Frederick Lincoln Savage was an American architect who designed over 300 cottages on Mount Desert 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. He also designed the NRHP-listed West Gouldsboro Village Library in Gouldsboro, Maine.