Highseas is a historic early 20th-century summer estate in

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 ...

. It is located on Schooner Head Road on the east side of

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 ...

, surrounded by the lands of

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and ...

. 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 The Jackson Laboratory (often abbreviated as JAX) is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution which was founded by a eugenicist. It employs more than 3,000 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine; Sacramento, California; Farmington, Con ...

and used as housing for students enrolled in its prestigious Summer Student Program. The property 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 1978.

Description and history

Highseas is set on a bluff overlooking

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 ...

south of the main village of Bar Harbor. It is a massive Colonial Revival structure, stories in height, built out of brick laid in tapestry bond, with a hip roof and a granite foundation; the brick was manufactured in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The roof is topped by a deck with railing, and is pierced by five brick chimneys and numerous dormers with gabled or hipped roofs. The building is roughly rectangular and its block is ten bays in width, with flanking wings of decreasing size. Most of the windows are sash, although the south wing is set up as a solarium with large casement windows. The main entrance is on the west side of the building, sheltered by a single-story portico with Ionic columns and a railing around its top. The entry area is flanked by projecting hip-roof sections. The east side of the building, facing the bay, has a single-story porch extending across the center six bays, supported by an Ionic colonnade. Highseas was designed by local architect

Frederick Lincoln 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 1912 for Rudolph Brunnow, a professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He sold it in 1924 to Mrs. Eva Van Cortland Hawkes, a wealthy heiress and descendant of

Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the U ...

. Her heirs donated the property to

, which has facilities nearby in Bar Harbor. The laboratory now uses the property as housing for summer students.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Colonial Revival architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1912 Houses in Hancock County, Maine Buildings and structures in Bar Harbor, Maine 1912 establishments in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine Gilded Age mansions

Description and history

See also

References