Harborside

A beautiful, historic Queen Anne Victorian home commands the corner of beloved Isle au Haut’s Head Harbor, a long, protected anchorage often described as magical. Nearly every room of the house looks out over a sandy beach, extended flats at low tide, and spectacular sea, sky and peninsula views. Built in 1911 for prominent fisherman and the stuff-of-folklore Gooden Grant, this elegant, iconic home rivals the finest island houses built at the turn of the 20th century.

• Harborside offers a lovely, covered white-railed porch looking down the harbor and a versatile, charming barn at water’s edge.
• Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of the most striking architectural details of this year-round home is an octagonal turret where the primary bedroom is located.
• The interior is gracious and bathed in natural light. Delightful rooms boast original wooden floors, exceptional wainscot and additional period details throughout.
• The newly-renovated kitchen offers sweeping harbor views and a host of modern amenities. Cooks will love preparing meals on a new gas range and sleek green-gray granite countertops with salt-and-pepper veining while looking out to sea. Custom-built cabinetry that matches original fine cabinets provide ample storage as well as blended-in doors for the ultra-quiet dishwasher and innovative, multi-drawered refrigerator underneath the counter.
• Meals are taken in the kitchen’s breakfast nook above the garden, a larger, open concept dining room, or on the porch – all with views of one of the most stunning locations on the Maine coast.
• The spacious living room is accentuated by four large windows that frame the ocean panorama, and mirror the second floor turret in structure.
• Harborside’s first floor also includes a back hall, water closet with composting toilet, and a separate shower room with vanity.
• Upstairs, you will find two guest bedrooms and a large primary bedroom with two closets, one that is walk-in. One guest bedroom features three windows framing magnificent harbor scenes; the smaller guestroom overlooks the north and east yards. The walk-up attic offers abundant storage and added living space potential.
• Off the front porch is a custom-made, white-painted, fenced-in garden, complete with workspace and sink ideal for washing vegetables, arranging cut flowers, and/or cleaning fish caught in the harbor or nearby lake.
• The matching white-clapboard barn offers three work benches, plenty of storage, a lovely office/bunkroom on the second floor – and of course, extraordinary views throughout.
• Hike to well-maintained coastal or inland trails directly from your front door. The unique property abuts a 72-acre preserve with hiking trails along breathtaking vistas. Acadia National Park, which encompasses about fifty percent of this rugged island and boasts eighteen miles of trails, borders the preserve.
• Launch a kayak, paddle board, or comb the beach for sand dollars and other treasures. Go fresh and saltwater fishing (even 5-trap lobster fishing, with a Maine state recreational license).
• Head Harbor provides protected mooring locations with direct access to Penobscot Bay. Enjoy swimming, wind surfing, canoeing, fishing or ice skating at the nearby pristine, mile-long lake.
• This house and its location is so gorgeous and considered “quintessential Maine” that it has been featured in books and glossy magazines.
• Isle au Haut has a small year-round population that grows to hundreds in the summer. The island home to an exceptional elementary school, a grocery store, tiny and efficient post office, town hall, library, historic lighthouse, public dock, fire department, electric company, and seasonal seaside gift shop and roadside eatery.
• Isle au Haut is accessible by private boat, float plane, and daily year-round passenger mailboat. Vehicles are delivered to the island by barge.