Sound of the Sea and its six bedroom companion (Rising Sun) are like no other homes on Mount Dessert Island. You'll find living here to be Heaven on Earth...
If, after your vacation here in peak season, you disagree, we'll refund you $1000! It's that simple. If you've ever lived in a more heavenly place, we'll make up for your disappointment by refunding you $1000. That's our "Heaven on Earth" promise...
Every room (except the Entrance Hall and Reading Room) has four or more windows with ocean views... the Living Room has eight, plus French Doors.
Each of the three bedrooms in Sound of the Sea has a King Bed, en suite Bathroom (with instant and unlimited hot water), and best of all, four or more windows looking onto Frenchman's Bay and the Gulf of Maine. Your views are always spectacular. None of the old mansions in Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor or Bar Harbor can compare in this regard.
Zephyr: "A soft, gentle breeze." Each of the bedrooms has windows on three sides, allowing you to create a zephyr of sea air flowing through your bedroom. I'm too old to use the term "awesome" loosely... but really, this is an awesome experience. Your own zephyr...
I placed the windows and the beds so that, when you're lying on your stomach with your head on the pillow, you're comfortably looking out at the ocean. And if you're lying on your back, with a little tilt of your head, you're looking up into tree canopies, watching birds (including eagles) float in the sky above.
High tide is only 75 feet away. (Home Plate to First Base is 90 feet, for comparison.) At low tide, unlike so many Mount Dessert Island waterfront rental locations, there are no mud flats, but rather glorious granite ledges with Frenchman's Bay lapping over and among them and deep water immediately at the end of the rocks.
Aside from its intimate relationship with the ocean, you'll immediately appreciate these features:
Instant and unlimited hot water.
The freshest air of any home, due not only to the forty plus windows delivering ocean breezes throughout the house, but also to the whole house ventilation system. Compare this to the musty, often mildewed air found in the older houses for rent.
Central air conditioning. This is most welcome during the periods (no longer so infrequent!) when temperature reaches the high 80's or above. If this happens during YOUR vacation, you'll love the central air conditioning in our home. Especially since these periods of heatwave can last for five or more days, when they do come. You'll not find this important feature of central air conditioning in any other large oceanfront home on Mount Desert Island!
Gorgeous colors in every room, modeled after the colors in Emily's famous flower gardens in NY. Each color is our own creation; we combine different pigments to get just the right hues, taking into account not only the particular wall, but also walls that you'll see through open doors into other rooms.
I created my favorite colors in the Rose Room (we have a bedroom of this name and these colors in both our homes here). While my dogs and I were living in this room during construction of Rising Sun, I modified color variations at least fifty times, viewing them at all hours of day and night. One of my dogs from those days, Tally Lama, has since left us for Rainbow Bridge, and I'll never be the same, but if you stay in the Rose Room, please send him your love. You'll see him in the accompanying photo titled "We're Here!" Tally was the most soulful creature I've ever had the good fortune to meet.
Also related to color, you'll find Oriental rugs (mostly antique Persian) throughout the house. Each one, we've selected from among hundreds that we've considered. Be aware that the colors are richer when viewed from one (length) side versus the other. Try it, and you'll appreciate an aspect of these works of art that you may have missed before.
A kitchen modeled after those found in Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurants. Guests who love cooking do fall in love with our kitchen and pantry. Also, you'll find the pantry well-stocked with herbs, spices, salts, peppers, olive oils, vinegars, pastas, rices, and much more.
Ours is a unique location for bird watching, from both inside and outside. The deck on the third floor, "Eagle Watch", is a magnificent site for this purpose.
Spectacular thunderous waves during and after rain or snow storms.
Magnificent oak and maple trees are beautiful during the spring and summer, and truly spectacular during the fall. I personally love them just as much during the winter, while they're sleeping but under a blanket of snow. If you're a tree person and you visit, I'd like to tell you about the measures I took to protect "Phoebe", our Triple Oak tree, from harm caused by construction. When we bought our land in 1983, we promised her that we'd always protect her, and we hope we've lived up to that promise.
A ten minute walk along our very private and very beautiful Sols Cliff Road to nearby Acadia trails leading to Sand Beach and Compass Harbor.
Kebo Valley Golf Club, the eighth oldest course in the country, offering gorgeous mountain vistas while you play this challenging course, is but a seven minute drive from our home.
If you like to fish (surf casting), call Ned to discuss the possibilities right outside the house. Hint: there's a particular section of the ocean, right off our rocks, in which cormorants swim and fish year round.
Our exceedingly private, secure location at the end of our narrow road, which is as pretty as any of Acadia's carriage trails. We walk it every morning with our dogs, and also love to walk at night under the star-strewn heavens. Winter, when twenty or thirty inches of powdery snow lines each side of the road and the sky is most star-laden, is absolutely the best (so long as you're dressed warmly!)
Our screened porch, set up for family dining, allows you to embrace the sea in all its moods. Morning coffee, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and dinner... you'll never find a more perfect setting for these enjoyments. Except for Eagle Watch.
Eagle Watch is best experienced by one or two people (adults). It's for meditation for one, or love for two. You're thirty feet up, looking down on high tide. Frequently, eagles will fly right past or soar overhead or dive for their breakfast into the sea in front of you. Sunrise over the water or starlight above... Life takes on new meaning when you're alone here with the quiet of the thunderous sea.
Or when you're holding hands with your lover... be it in the first glorious flush of new love, or in the joyful reminiscences of your fiftieth anniversary.