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Harborside Estate

Photo gallery for Harborside Estate

Interior
Dining
Exterior detail
Fridge, microwave, oven, stovetop
Terrace/patio

Reviews

9.4 out of 10

Exceptional

Entire home

4 bedrooms3 bathroomsSleeps 8

Popular amenities

  • Washer
  • Kitchen
  • Dryer
  • Outdoor Space

About this property

Entire place

You'll have the entire home to yourself and will only share it with other guests in your party.

Harborside Estate

Beautifully renovated historic waterfront estate within easy walking distance to downtown Bar Harbor and the entrance to Acadia National Park. Lounge away on the grand piazza overlooking Frenchman Bay, the sandbar and our spacious grounds. Enjoy we’ll appointed interiors with updates throughout the house. New linens and mattresses in bedrooms make for a great nights sleep. For guest who wish to cook, we have recently updated the kitchen with all new appliances.

One of the last of the remaining grand summer cottages in Bar Harbor. Once owned by the Cooper Hewitt family from New York.

Please note that this is a large estate with the main house consisting of over 10,000 sq. ft. The lower level of the home is its own unit with its own access separate from that of the homes main entrance and is occupied by the homes owner. In addition there is an unattached carriage house on the property occupied by the the caretaker.

Property manager

Beatrix Jones

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in the house: Internet access

Kitchen

  • Coffee grinder
  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Cookware, dishware, and utensils
  • Dishwasher
  • Microwave
  • Oven
  • Refrigerator
  • Spices
  • Stovetop
  • Toaster

Bedrooms

  • 4 bedrooms
  • Bedsheets provided

Bathroom

  • 3 bathrooms
  • Bathtub
  • Bathtub or shower
  • Hair dryer
  • Shower
  • Toilet paper
  • Towels provided

Outdoor areas

  • Balcony
  • Garden
  • Outdoor furniture

Laundry

  • Washing machine

Pets

  • No pets allowed

Suitability/Accessibility

  • Smoke-free property

Location highlights

  • Near the ocean

Safety features

  • Carbon monoxide detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector)
  • Smoke detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property)

General

  • Garden

Similar properties

Property grounds

Seashells on the Seashore Waterfront Cottage, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, firepit, beach

Ocean view
Kitchen
Washer
Dryer
9.6 out of 10, Exceptional, (13)
Seashells on the Seashore Waterfront Cottage, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, firepit, beach

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 4:00 PM
Contactless check-in available
Minimum check-in age: 25

Check-out

Check-out before 10:00 AM
Contactless check-out available

Special check-in instructions

You will receive an email from the host with check-in and check-out instructions

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
Parties and events (including family gatherings) are allowed on site; maximum attendees: 10
Host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector with you on the trip
Host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property
This property is managed through our partner, Vrbo. You will receive an email from Vrbo with a link to a Vrbo account, where you can change or cancel your reservation

About the neighborhood

Map
ME, Bar Harbor

What's nearby

  • West Street Historic District - 5 min walk
  • Bar Harbor Whale Watching - 15 min walk
  • Shore Path - 15 min walk
  • Village Green - 17 min walk
  • Acadia National Park's Visitors Center - 5 min drive

Getting around

  • Bar Harbor, ME (BHB-Hancock County - Bar Harbor) - 19 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Geddy's - ‬14 min walk
  • ‪Thirsty Whale - ‬14 min walk
  • ‪Side Street Cafe - ‬16 min walk
  • ‪Jordan's Restaurant - ‬11 min walk
  • ‪Finback Alehouse - ‬15 min walk

Frequently asked questions

Is Harborside Estate pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

What time is check-in at Harborside Estate?

Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Harborside Estate?

Check-out is at 10:00 AM.

Where is Harborside Estate located?

Situated by the ocean, this vacation home is within 1 mi (2 km) of West Street Historic District and Acadia National Park. Newlin Gardens and George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History are also within 15 minutes.

Harborside Estate Reviews

Reviews

9.4

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 12 out of 16 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 3 out of 16 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 16 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 16 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 16 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer C.

Liked: Cleanliness
Awesome Inn
We were in Bar Harbor for a wedding and the stay was great
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2024

8/10 Good

robert s.

Liked: Cleanliness
Gilded age Mansion in spectacular setting, with some rough edges
Staying in Reverie Cove is a step back in time, and a glimpse into how the other half lived at the turn of the previous century. The location is great, easy walk to town, and the view spectacular. The porch which overlooks the water is fantastic with multiple seating options. That said, this house is seriously showing its age, and needs a lot of maintenance work. One of the 3 showers doesn’t work, and one other is very difficult to regulate temperature. The whole house needs scraped and painted, and there is rotting wood on the porch railings. Much of the interior furniture is in need of repair or replacement, but it does show the original character of the house. If you can overlook the rough edges, it is a remarkable and truly unique experience
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2024

8/10 Good

Anthony S.

Liked: Cleanliness
Amazing piece of history!
This mansion is a real piece of history. It’s like it’s been frozen in time. So unique and stately. Filled with antiques, hundreds of old books. There is so much to explore. I loved reading the old books and magazines. The home has the greatest views you can imagine, especially from the immense back porch which looks out to Frenchmen’s Bay. There are binoculars handy to see even better, like watching all the people walk to Bar Island when the tide is out. My family stayed here, 7 of us, and we had the entire mansion to ourselves. A 5 minute walk into town, or less than 1 minute drive. Plenty of parking at the house. Every room is huge! I’d give this place a 5+ if the bathrooms were updated a little. The place is a little rustic and very old. We loved the character of the place, but if you’re expecting any modern conveniences forget it. There is one TV in one bedroom, which we didn’t turn on all week. There are not many outlets, and none in the bathrooms. The toilets are old and could probably use being replaced. Some of the furniture needs to be reupholstered. But it’s beautiful otherwise. I personally loved our stay, so did my wife and 17 year old daughter. But some of the women in our family were a little put off by how old everything looked and was. The kitchen has an updated fridge and stuff, plenty of dishes, etc. It is so quiet and peaceful at the house, you hear nothing. So many rooms to hang out in and read or play family games. Great home!
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kate F.

Liked: Cleanliness
Nice old house
We enjoyed our stay. Excellent porch for watching the water. Wouldn't mind having more comfortable couches and chairs. Thanks for a lovely time. What a cool and interesting house.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Margaret P.

Liked: Cleanliness
Fabulous Waterfront Cottage Bar Harbor
Gracious house of yesteryear. Stunning. Walk to town; On Frenchman's Bay.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Mitchell T.

Liked: Cleanliness
Exploring Acadia & Bar Harbor
What a great way to step back in time, Reverie Cove is a fantastic historical property. It's showing its age but I would stay here again in a heartbeat. Great location and the view off the porch was incredible as was the library with magazines from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Very happy with the property and the ability to step into yesteryear.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer R.

Liked: Cleanliness
Step Back in Time
This is an opportunity to stay in an historic time capsule right on the water with sublime views from the porch. It's lovely, and close to town.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Marie S.

Liked: Cleanliness
Beautiful Bar Harbor location
The historic home was wonderful and interesting but the location to the harbor was excellent. The views from the porch was gorgeous
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Brian K.

Liked: Cleanliness
Gorgeous summer house.
This house is a definite hidden gem in Bar Harbor. We loved the stay in the mansion. The location was more than perfection, next to the bay, bar island land bridge. It is an old house but nicely preserved. I would definitely come back.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

william j.

Liked: Cleanliness
Amazing or not, depending on your expectations.
The location is near perfect and the house is incredibly interesting with what can only be described as artifacts and interesting conversation pieces every where you turn. You do feel a bit more like you are in someones home than a vacation property, but in this case, that is part of the charm. The views are spectacular and the property manager was attentive. We stayed with our adult (or almost adult) children. There were a few things that were not as described in the listing, but they were resolved to our satisfaction, and I believe the listing has been updated to be accurate. The bathrooms are functional and clean, but very dated and could definitely use a refresh. The same is true of the kitchen, which had good appliances, but the everyday dish-ware could use an update. We did not mind, but if this is something that you care about, it might matter. The other thing I would say that this would have been an absolutely terrible place for us to have stayed 10 or even 5 years ago when our children were young. The house contains an astounding amount of expensive looking items that I am sure they would have broken and the exterior of the property has a decent amount of chipping paint that might be an issue for a small child. Also, access to the water would also be a bit treacherous for someone who is very young or not physically fit. We initially were not informed that the owner is on-premises, and if we had known this, it probably would have deterred us from renting the home because we enjoy our privacy. In retrospect, I am glad that we did not know. The owner was not intrusive and staying at this home is an experience we would not have wanted to miss. We have vacationed in the area every year for the past ten years and this was the best location we have stayed in. We had an amazing time.
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Demitri B., Virginia

Liked: Cleanliness
Amazing!
Fantastic stay. We will be back!
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Peter N., Newton, MA

Liked: Cleanliness
Grand house in spectacular location
This grand old mansion certainly has a number of faults, listed in other reviews, but they have to be taken in the context of the experience of living in a classic 19th century plutocrat's "cottage" by the sea and the convenience of the location just minutes from both downtown Bar Harbor and an Acadia carriage road entrance (albeit up a long hill). The huge porch overlooking Frenchman Bay, the bar, and Bar Island was the best feature; it was tempting to stay there all the time, "watchin' the tide roll away." We ate all of our meals there. Josh (manager) and Sarge (host) were very welcoming and responded quickly to texts, although requests sometimes took a while to be fulfilled. Surprisingly for such a fine old house, both children and dogs are welcome, and both had a great time during our visit. We were blessed with cool weather and sea breezes all but one night, but the window air conditioners were told would be there (but weren't) would be very useful in a heat wave. Be tolerant of the flaws and revel in the setting -- you will have a great experience. We will probably be back next summer.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2022

4/10 Poor

Anne L.

Disliked: Cleanliness
Could have been a great place...
We stayed at the house the week of July 23 – July 30, 2022. We enjoyed our stay at Bar Harbor and found the size of the house was adequate for our family, had a nice view of the bay and good proximity to town. We understood the house was over 100 years old, but didn’t expect it to be in such a state of disrepair. The overall appearance and condition of the house was very run down with potential safety issues and looks like it has not been maintained since the 1970’s, with the exception of kitchen appliances. Here is a list of the issues: • Rotten wood on porches/railings. Back porch was soft and leaning down on the curved edge of the porch and felt unsafe and very questionable structural integrity. • Dryer not vented to the outside; was vented into a plastic container in the laundry room. Had to hang dry clothes since that venting appears to be a fire hazard. • Unsafe “rope” access to water. • Majority of windows were non-operational. This was a major problem on the second floor with no air conditioning. Had to leave all of the doors open (no privacy), in order to try to cool down the rooms with no workable windows. Was extremely hot on second floor for most of the week. • Bathrooms with missing tiles, no light fixture cover, no running water in first floor bathroom, linoleum peeling, and all of the bathrooms had an overall dirty appearance and looked like they had not been maintained for many years. • Back porch covered with bugs/spiders/webs on upper ceiling and walls. • Screens on doors ripped out • Stained towels • Cracks in walls and ceilings • Ripped chairs
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

diana m.

Great Location and back porch overlooking the Bay
This house has potential to be an incredible stay. The location, just a short walk to town was perfect for our family group of young adults and spouses. The immense back porch overlooking the Bay is the best room in the house and offered plenty of time to gather and enjoy the sunset! The house has plenty of space for everyone to spread out. The kitchen is adequate but with no AC and with full afternoon sun it's more like a "breakfast for dinner" setup. There was a nice BBQ grill that we used. This is a 100 yr old house renovated to 1960's standards and it brought me back to my own childhood summers spent with my grandmother in our family summer home. With 8 adults and 2 working showers, coordination was required but we didn't run out of hot water once! It was August and we had some warm sticky nights but the property manager Josh was most accommodative when we requested more fans and more windows be pried opened. If you are a history buff there are many periodicals and books we found interesting, particularly history of the house, the family and the area architecture. Clearly the family is renting it out to help with updates and we understand this. We made plenty of suggestions for improvements and the manager was receptive. As long as you can handle the simplicity of the house, this is an excellent option. It was good for our 20 somethings to experience something other than the "resort vacation". We look forward to coming back to this spot to check on the improvements.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

David B.

Liked: Cleanliness
Wow!
Reverie Cove is a remarkably unique and amazing property. It is spacious, airy, bright, comfortable, and inviting. The decor and appointments had us feeling like we were stepping back into the heyday of Bar Harbor's early 20th century summer retreats. Every room had its own story to tell, and the entire home is like a museum. I could have spent hours in the library alone....One really must experience to understand. Practically speaking, the location is perfect. Easy 5-10 minute walk to downtown Bar Harbor. It is right along the seawall, so beautiful unobstructed views of Frenchman Bay and Bar Island from any one of the seaward balconies, terraces, porches. We were able to access the "beach" / tide pools from right behind the house during low tide and walk to Bar Island along the sandbar. The 4 bedrooms easily accommodated the 6 of us, and could comfortably sleep 2 couples and 4 others (2 double beds and 2 singles in the other 2 bedrooms). The kitchen was large and well-equipped for staying in. The host, Josh, was there to meet us upon arrival and give us the tour. He was always quick to respond and check in with us for any needs. The photos are accurate, but do not fully do the home justice. It is big. In full disclosure - Reverie Cove was built in the 1890's, so you will experience the vintageness of its bones. The bathrooms are dated, so do not expect a spa experience in this regard. I would say that the house would not be a good fit for small children. Responsible adolescents and teens would be okay (I say this more to respect the owner's property and furnishings). All in all, this was one of the best (if not the best) places we have ever encountered as a vacation home rental. I would highly recommend. If we are fortunate enough to vacation in Bar Harbor again, we will be coming back to Reverie Cove.
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Brandi S.

Liked: Cleanliness
Amazing Views
This house was so charming and rich with history. The views off the back porch are amazing and there is plenty of space for a family to spread out.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2022