Being an Acadia National Park area bed and breakfast has been a joy over the past 11 years. The beauty of this area known as Mt Desert Island, is with out a doubt, one of the most beautiful places on earth. Our Southwest Harbor inn has the distinction of being one of the earliest summer lodgings near Acadia.
I thought a little history of our Maine bed and breakfast inn might be interesting to you. I hope you enjoy, and would love to hear your comments.
Originally called Prospect House, The Harbour Cottage was built near a steamboat landing on Clark Point in 1870 by Deacon Henry H Clark, as an annex of The Island House, the first summer Hotel on Mt Desert Island.
Deacon Clark began his Southwest Harbor inn business by taking guests into his own home and he gradually enlarged his house and remodeled it completely. The Island House was torn down, but the Island House Cottage, as it was then called, was left intact.
In his 1878 Handbook of Mt Desert, B.F. De Costa described the cottage as having “ twenty-two rooms, all well-lighted and ventilated, furnished with spring beds. The halls and piazzas are wide and airy.”
The Island Cottage became a private residence and after serving as a home to 2 prominent Southwest Harbor families for many years, it became a Southwest Harbor inn once more and was renamed The Harbour Cottage Bed Breakfast Inn as it remains today.
The inn, as it now looks, was totally remodeled in 2001. Take a moment when you come to stay with us to see the original “Island Cottage” sign as well as an early photo of our Southwest Harbor inn in the living room near the bookcases.
We feel privileged to be the stewards of this lovely property and to serve visitors to the Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park region.
