Down East Saltwater Vacation Rentals - Schoodic Peninsula and Mount Desert Island.

Our Featured Rental.

Paul Bunyan Road - Corea:

Built in 1967 (before minimum setback* rules) by my grandparents, it is only twenty five feet from the water. We were lucky that we built when we did - shortly after that, minimum set-back rules came into force. Anyone sitting on our deck, that close to Gouldsboro Bay, will understand one of the reasons that our summer house has been in continuous summer use by the family ever since.

Some people who visit pass their entire stay on our front porch. Some days it is clear and bright. Other days you can watch the fog creep up the far shore, hesitate, and then recede south again to the mouth of the bay. Some days you can barely hear the surf. Other days it will lull you to sleep at night. Some days you awake to fog everywhere and the sound of the Petit Manan Light foghorn. Fog or not, you can hear the lobster boats in the bay hauling traps - often barely fifty yards away. But the smell of the sea is always there.

On a clear day you can see the Petit Manan Light exactly seven miles to the southeast. Some nights when we've forgotten to leave a light on we've used the passing beam of the Petit Manan Light to locate the keyhole. On such nights the Milky Way is clearly visible above.

For the adventuresome, there is always the possibility of foraging for periwinkles and whelks at low tide in front of the house. Within minutes you can gather hundreds of periwinkles and the occasional whelk. For a different kind of foraging you can go the Lobster Coop in Corea - live lobster and crab. For some years now crab has been selling for one dollar a pound while lobster can vary widely from $3.50 a pound for shedders to $7+ for prime hardshells; and if you make arrangements - buckets of the large waved whelks (locally called "wrinkles") for mere dollars the bucket.

Nannyberry, Winterberry
and Mountain Holly
in their fall colors

Over the years we have landscaped the area around the house by selecting and clumping the shrubs already growing there:

Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Winterberry (Ilex Verticalla)
Mountain Holly (Ilex mucronata formerly Nemopanthus mucronatus)
Rosa Carolina
Low-bush Blueberry
Juniper (Juniperus communis)
Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor)
with the first three predominating and grass paths between the clumps.

We have also opened up the woods around the house by thinning saplings and cutting lower branches. With White Pine long gone, Red Spruce is the surviving noble conifer of the Down East forest. On our property we have favored Red Spruce by thinning any Balsam Firs and Red Maples that crowd them. In any event the trees that surround the house are mostly Red Spruce which are heavily grazed by red squirrels and chipmunks. Other trees on the property include Larch (Tamarack - also locally called Hackmatack), Balsam Fir, White Spruce and Red Maple. The hammock is strung between a Red Spruce and a White Spruce. There is an extremely attractive Larch directly in front of the house. In a heavy breeze, while Red Spruce stiffly vibrate the Larch bends and whips gracefully to each gust.

There is also a small herb garden in back in a raised bed with sides of Balsam Fir logs. Rosa Rugosa line the driveway atop a pink granite rubble wall.

The house itself has four cozy bedrooms. The porch in front (east side) segues into a large deck running along the south side of the house. Every summer since 1968 at least one member of the family has brought a cat for the summer.

Private and pet friendly. Easy canoe and kayak launching at any stage of the tide from in front of the house. Nearby sand beaches (~5 mins) for those who wish to wade or swim in ocean water. 20 Minutes to the public beach at Jones Pond where the water is warm.

We usually rent weekly Sunday to Sunday. However, other arrangements are possible.
$1200 per week in season. Late spring, early summer and early fall - $1050.
email - mainebayfront@gmail.com