Frederick Lincoln Savage (November 14, 1861 – February 26, 1924) was an American architect, known as

Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...

'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 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 pr ...

and the

John Innes Kane Cottage The John Innes Kane Cottage, also known as Breakwater and Atlantique, is a historic summer estate house at 45 Hancock Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. Built in 1903-04 for John Innes Kane, a wealthy grandson Bar Harbor 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. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

, and (with Milton W. Stratton) '' Raventhorp'' in

Southwest Harbor Southwest Harbor is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. Located on Mount Desert Island, the population was 1,756 at the 2020 census. The municipality contains within it the villages of Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seawall, Wonderland, ...

, all listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP). He also designed the NRHP-listed West Gouldsboro Village Library in

Gouldsboro, Maine Gouldsboro is a town and municipality in Hancock County, Maine, United States on the Schoodic Peninsula. The town was named for Robert Gould, a landholder in the town. The town has many historically separate fishing villages, summer colonies and ...

Career

Savage studied under prominent

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

architect Robert Swain, who had designed a house in Northeast Harbor for his brother-in-law Charles Eliot. It is partly due to this tutelage that Mount Desert Island has a wealth of shingle-style architecture. Upon the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Savage returned to Northeast Harbor in 1887, and was quickly noted as being an accomplished and dependable building contractor, as well as someone with an eye for architecture. In 1890, he was hired by James Gardiner, son-in-law of Bishop Doane, to design six cottages for the Harborside area of Northeast Harbor he had purchased three years earlier. Four of the cottages were named ''Sweet Briar'', ''Grey Pine'', ''Isis'' and ''Aerie''. An inn, named ''Harbourside'', was also constructed. In 1893, he opened an office in Bar Harbor. Three years later, he had merged practices with that of Milton Stratton, another Bar Harbor architect. When that partnership ended, Savage built a small Tudor-style office near the intersection of Cottage and Main Streets. After marrying Alice Preble, he moved permanently from Northeast Harbor to Bar Harbor. It was his year-round presence on Mount Desert Island that led to major firms engaging with Savage to oversee their projects. Savage purchased the Bear Mountain granite quarry, using its material on the first floor of his ''Atlantean'' cottage and in the

*''The Ledge'', Northeast Harbor, Maine (1891) *''Roserne'', Northeast Harbor, Maine (1891 or before) *

, Bar Harbor, Maine (1892)Bar Harbor Cottages
- MDIHistory.com *'' Raventhorp'', Southwest Harbor, Maine (1895 or before) *Scull Cottage, Mount Desert, Maine (1899) *

Asticou Inn 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 ...

, Northeast Harbor, Maine (1901 reconstruction) *Callendar House, Bar Harbor, Maine (1901 or before) *''Devilstone'', Bar Harbor, Maine (1901 wing) *Fraley Cottage, Mount Desert, Maine (1901)Mount Desert Cottages
- MDIHistory.com *

John Innes Kane Cottage The John Innes Kane Cottage, also known as Breakwater and Atlantique, is a historic summer estate house at 45 Hancock Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. Built in 1903-04 for John Innes Kane, a wealthy grandsonWest Gouldsboro Village Library, Gouldsboro, Maine (1907 or before) *Canopy, Sieur de Monts spring (1909)"George Bucknam Dorr and Cultural Landscapes of Acadia National Park"
- NPS.gov *''

Highseas 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 gran ...

'', Bar Harbor, Maine (1911) *''Gray Rock'', Northeast Harbor, Maine (1912 or before) *Indian Head Cottage, Northeast Harbor, Maine

Personal life

Family

Savage was the second of the four sons of Augustus Chase ("A.C.") Savage (1832–1911) and Emily Manchester (1834–1914), the founders of the

Northeast Harbor, Maine Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The original settlers, the Someses and Richardsons, arrived around 1761. The village has a significant summe ...

. Fred was the architect of the current, 1901-built inn, the original having burned down in 1899.''Fred Savage, The Cottage Builder''
– Jaylene B. Roths Savage's paternal great-grandfather, John, came to America from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and settled in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, around 1770. He and his wife, Sarah, moved to Mount Desert Island in 1798 and built a cabin near Harbor Brook in Northeast Harbor. Their children rooted themselves in the Asticou section of the village. When he was 18, his occupation was reported as being a fisherman in the local census. He was also helping his father in building hotels and cottages for the village's expanding community of summer residents, and worked briefly as the village's

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. His first wife was 15-year-old Flora Lee Salisbury (1872–1960). The couple had three children: Frederick Manchester Savage (1891–1892), Floralee Savage (1894–1916) and Francis Chase Savage (1896–1917).Mount Desert Island Families — Savage
- MDIHistory.org He married a second time, to his secretary Alice Ray Preble (1879–1961), in 1901. It is believed the two had a relationship while Savage was still married to his first wife.

Education

Savage attended school in Northeast Harbor with his siblings, who made up a total of about 40 students.

Homes

Around 1887, when he was about 26 years old, Savage owned Hilltop Cottage in Northeast Harbor and lived there with his first wife, Flora. Another of Savage's personal homes, which also doubled as a

model home A show house, also called a model home or display home, is a term for a "display" version of manufactured homes, or houses in a subdivision. They are used on newly built developments to show the living space and features of homes available. Show h ...

for prospective business purposes, the ''Atlantean'', on the shore-side stretch of Bar Harbor's Atlantic Avenue, is one of the best examples of Savage's work in the Tudor style. It was built in 1903,"Tycoon For A Night"
– ''Portland Monthly'', July/August 2014 and Savage lived there with his second wife, Alice. It was later renamed the ''Wayside Inn'', but as of 2021 it is called the ''Atlantean'' again.

Death

Savage died on February 26, 1924, at the age of 62, after suffering from what his doctor called "acute indigestion." His wife, Alice, survived him by 37 years, and they are both interred at Ledgelawn Cemetery in Bar Harbor.''Mount Desert Islander'', July 18, 2013