The Harbor Lane–Eden Street Historic District encompasses a neighborhood of

Bar Harbor, Maine 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 ...

, 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 Frenchman Bay is a bay in Hancock County, Maine, named for Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who visited the area in 1604. Frenchman Bay may have been the location of the Jesuit St. Sauveur mission, established in 1613. In a 1960 book ...

, 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 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 ...

in 2009.

Background and setting

Bar Harbor is located on the northeast of Mount Desert Island on the central coast of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the island was developed as a summer resort for the wealthy elites of eastern cities, with summer estates rivaling those of

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. Bar Harbor was home to a significant number of these estates, many of which were destroyed by a 1947 fire which ravaged the eastern half of the island. The Harbor Lane–Eden Street district is located at the southeastern fringe of the area that escaped damage in the fire. It is roughly bounded on the southeast by Harbor Lane, Eden Street on the south and southwest, Sea Fox Road (an access road into the campus of the College of the Atlantic, which occupies some of the former estate houses), and

. The district consists of ten properties, nine of which include a surviving estate house, and a historic

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

. The main house of the tenth property, Fabian Cottage, was demolished in 1975, and only its 1887 stable survives. Four of the ten properties, Witch Cliff, Acadia Cottage, Sea Fox, and the Fabian Cottage stable, as well as the stone wharf just south of Sea Fox, are now owned by the College of the Atlantic and form part of its campus. The other six properties are located south of the campus. 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 Harbor Lane and/or Eden Street properties on the list:"Historic properties list revised"
- ''Mount Desert Islander'', March 30, 2017

Eden Street

*Blanchfield House, number 37 *Caruso Residence, 41 *Bagatelle, 75. A Queen Anne and Shingle style building designed by Rotch and Tilden and completed in 1883. It was one of the first estates built in the area. A carriage house and guest house, both designed by Rotch and Tilden, are included on the property. The estate includes land that once belonged to an estate that was destroyed by the 1947 fire. *Villa Mary, 77. The oldest estate in the district. It was built in 1879–80 to designs by

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

architect Bruce Price, with later remodeling in the 1920s by

Arthur McFarland Arthur Lamont "Tiger" McFarland (July 7, 1874 – August 21, 1959) was an early professional American football player who played with the Greensburg Athletic Association as well as the Latrobe Athletic Association. He later played for the Philade ...

. This estate includes land from two others destroyed in the 1947 fire.

Harbor Lane

*Fenwold, number 6. Also formerly known as Colonial Hall, it was designed by noted Maine architect

John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...

, and is his only known commission in Bar Harbor. It was built in 1891 for the

Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the Unit ...

family, and enlarged in 1918. It is stylistically a combination of Colonial and Mediterranean Renaissance Revival architecture.

Other private estates

Reverie Cove

Reverie Cove (7 Harbor Lane), was designed by local architect

Fred L. Savage Frederick Lincoln Savage (November 14, 1861 – February 26, 1924) 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 islan ...

and built in 1893 for Dr. John Davies Jones. It is an opulent Colonial Revival building with Italian Renaissance Revival details. It was separately listed on the National Register in 1982. The property includes a period carriage house.

Anchorhold

Anchorhold (9 Harbor Lane), also formerly known as Elwood and Anchorage, is an 1885 Shingle style house designed by Rotch and Tilden and restyled in 1893 by Fred L. Savage. It was built for Miss E. H. Elwood, who only used it for a few years before selling it. This property also includes a period carriage house.

Green Court

Green Court (8 Harbor Lane), formerly known as Mainstay, was originally designed by Rotch and Tilden, but underwent later alterations designed by

Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul was an American architectural firm founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1883 and composed of architects Robert Day Andrews, Herbert Jaques and Augustus Neal Rantoul. The firm, with its successors, was in business contin ...

(in 1893) and

Duncan Candler Duncan Willson Candler (May 8, 1873 - November 12, 1949) was an American architect known for his various projects for Abby and John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the house Skylands for Edsel Ford.Mitchell, Christi M. (2009-01-24)National Register of His ...

(in 1932). It is a three-story Colonial Revival building with Tudor elements. Its carriage house also survives, but has been extensively altered and is no longer historically significant.

References

External links

Living Places: Harbor Lane–Eden Street Historic District
– detailed descriptions of the properties, taken from the National Register nomination {{DEFAULTSORT:Harbor Lane-Eden Street Historic District Buildings and structures in Bar Harbor, Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine Historic districts in Hancock County, Maine