Stature

Stature of the Oceansedge property

Table of Contents

This table of contents summarizes a 7-part narrative and photographic description of the stature of the Oceansedge property

1. Origins
   1. 1768
   2. Post-Civil War 1800s
   3. The 1970s
2. Distinguished Property
3. Longevity
4. Distinguished Guests
   1. Foreign counties represented
   2. Companies represented
5. Reputation
   1. favorable ratings
   2. favorable reviews
6. Community Affiliations
7. Continuity

Stature

1. Origins
   This formal, elegant, and lavishly appointed oceanfront home in Bar Harbor was among the several homes constructed during the third wave of the development of the Hulls Cove neighborhood in the 1970s.
   1. 1768
      The first wave was not really much of a wave for being just one pitiful and bad-luck family that comprised the original settlers coming to Hulls Cove in 1768 from Kennebunk (then Arundel) to Hulls Cove (then Eden). 
      
      They were survivors of the 100-year Indian wars. They and/or some of their descendants would soon be casualties in the coastal War of 1812, particularly at a fiasco in Bangor that was the naval disaster in American history;  in privateering skirmishes with England and France which were nonetheless sometimes quite profitable for the raiders; in the American Revolution, including at Bunker Hill; and everywhere in the Civil War.
      
      The original family’s descendants and in-laws are to be almost solely credited with building the thriving and bustling Bar Harbor of the 1800s. Their accomplishments came largely through indescribably hard work as shipbuilders, merchants to the Caribbean sugar islands, farmers, loggers, dam-builders and sawmill operators, and ultimately developers of some of the largest hotels in New England, many of which wooden hotels burned completely and were then rebuilt bigger and more glamorous than before.

1. b.   Post-Civil War 1800s
   The second wave was the cosmopolitan and supremely affluent summer visitors coming to the private peninsula of Lookout Point on Hulls Cove in order to build opulent homes here during the Gilded Age following the Civil War – and they were indeed opulent.
   
   Distinguished residents of Lookout Point included:
   
   —    prominent figures in the loftiest levels of the government of the Confederacy; 
   —    a Union general who, although having a lackluster military career, married well when joining the country’s oldest banking family;
   —    the family of the financier of the Civil War effort  whom US Grant said did more to win the War than did Grant himself or Lincoln;
   —    owners of the best race horses in Northern Virginia and therefore the sleekest and fastest horses in  the world, as proven by the 1st Virginia Confederate Cavalry although there were few survivors, and as would have later been said by Leslie Benedict (Elizabeth Taylor) of Edna Ferber’s Giant;
   —   nationally renowned advocates for women’s rights including the right to vote, for anti-war and humanitarian causes, lesbian rights, and for the assimilation of helpless immigrant children;
   —   a rogue Southern money manipulator and generous friend to libraries, firehouses, and every one of his state’s legislators regardless of actual personal need or merit such that all of the legislators were always broadminded as to their benefactor. 
   
   Also coming this way to Lookout Point during the springtime of the late 1800s were:
   
   —   scores of Black and Irish domestic servants sent up from East Coast cities in the steerage quarters of  coastal packets; plus 
   —   numerous horses of various pedigrees were transported by rail to booming Bangor before the horses were ridden, driven, or led to stables at Lookout Point and Hulls Cove where grooms lived in the stables with their valuable charges.

c. The 1970s

The newest residents of the Lookout Point enclave on Hulls Cove came in the 1970s.

They had left behind shingle-style manses on Bar Harbor’s Shore Path, Eden Street, the Corniche (a now forgotten name for the steep-cliff and Amalfi-like narrow portion of the road just below Hulls Cove which terrified horses), and West Street which had been expropriated from Indians who had long encamped there.

The houses left behind in favor of Lookout Point were massive and weary summer homes built in the late 1800s, almost all of which had been inherited or had been collected in divorce settlements along with good memories gone bad.

The houses left behind were also temples of conspicuous consumption that were the survivors of the Fire of 1947 –  a hellish, wind-driven, 3-day  fire that began in Hulls Cove and incinerated much of the Town and almost all of the 100 greatest “cottage” mansions, and indeed much of the Island itself. The same fire had quick-marched right to what is now the entrance to Lookout Point, whereupon a shift in the wind sent the fire flying off down the shoreline, miraculously sparing Lookout Point’s homes and the still regal pines and spruces there.

The new summer residents of the 1970s, all of whom were members of the Bar Harbor Club, brought with them to the Lookout Point peninsula a distinctive camaraderie plus an appreciation for the unchanging serenity and security of that private enclave on Hulls Cove – a place that seemed to be the epitome of good luck and great fortunes for 200 years.

2. Distinguished Property 
   1. Lookout Point, which is a private peninsula enclave with a dozen oceanfront homes, is arguably the most historic and prestigious neighborhood in Bar Harbor.
   2. The Oceansedge vacation rental property on Lookout Point is thought to be one of the best rental properties of its kind on the Maine Coast. 
      
      The photos provided here on this page, plus the approximately 100 photos in the Gallery of this website, mean to attest to the same.

3. Longevity
   1. Oceansedge has served as a luxury vacation rental property for more than 25 years. 
      
      It may have been in operation longer than any other such property in Bar Harbor and on Mt. Desert Island.
      
   2. The property has served over the years as many as 500 families. 
4. Distinguished Guests
   1. Foreign counties represented
      Oceansedge’s guests have come from almost every state in the USA, and from abroad. 
      
      Foreign travelers came from:
      
      —     the UK 
      —     Canada 
      —     Australia 
      —     Israel 
      —     France 
      —     Germany 
      —     the Bahamas, and 
      —     Alabama – which might be considered a foreign country.
   2.  Companies represented
      Distinguished families, included entrepreneurial creators and executive officers of worldwide companies and institutions (see collage of logos) having household names such as: 
      
      —     Nike
      —     Facebook 
      —     Harvard Medical School 
      —     Goldman Sachs 
      —     Wells Fargo 
      —     Price Waterhouse 
      —     consulting companies McKinsey and Bain. and 
      —     numerous national and international 40-office law firms
      
      There were other not so well known guests who were just as likable or more so. One was an eminently enjoyable farmer from Kansas whom I am pleased to stay struck oil. Another family had struck spring water in Maine and did just as well or better. There have so far been no gold miners among past guests although the possibility remains and perhaps some of my prospective guests should be doing some looking in their spare time.
      
      Guests are welcome year-round, including during the winter holidays.
   1. Foreign counties represented
      Oceansedge’s guests have come from almost every state in the USA, and from abroad. 
      
      Foreign travelers came from:
      
      —     the UK 
      —     Canada 
      —     Australia 
      —     Israel 
      —     France 
      —     Germany 
      —     the Bahamas, and 
      —     Alabama – which might be considered a foreign country.
   2.  Companies represented
      Distinguished families, included entrepreneurial creators and executive officers of worldwide companies and institutions having household names such as: 
      
      —     Nike
      —     Facebook 
      —     Harvard Medical School 
      —     Goldman Sachs 
      —     Wells Fargo 
      —     Price Waterhouse 
      —     consulting companies McKinsey and Bain. and 
      —     numerous national and international 40-office law firms
      
      There were other not so well known guests who were just as likable or more so. One was an eminently enjoyable farmer from Kansas whom I am pleased to stay struck oil. Another family had struck spring water in Maine and did just as well or better. There have so far been no gold miners among past guests although the possibility remains and perhaps some of my prospective guests should be doing some looking in their spare time.
      
      Guests are welcome year-round, including during the winter holidays.

5. Reputation
   1. Favorable  Ratings
      During the property’s affiliation with commercial listing platforms, guests offered an unbroken string of 5-star ratings
      
      It may have been the only such perfect record among properties listed with commercial listing services. 
   2. Favorable Reviews
      The guests also offered hundreds of reviews. 
      
      Approximately 50 of the most recent reviews are provided here in the Gallery section of this website.

6. Community Affiliations
   Oceansedge is or has been affiliated with:
   
   —     3 Chambers of Commerce
   —     the Maine Tourism Association
   —     the Office of Maine Tourism 
   —     the Maine Office of Economic Development, and 
   —     the Association of Maine Summer Camps for children, including the legendary Alford Lake camp in Camden, around since 1907.
7. Continuity
   The same family has owned the property through three generations and for more than 40 years.