The Eastern Section
Natalie Barney, Renée Vivien, Clara Spence, Charlotte Baker, Jane Addams, and Mary Rozet Smith
*Part of the Eastern Segmant (the carriage road hike) will require the purchase an Acadia National Park pass.
Destinations for Google Maps Map of the Shore Path and Grant Park
The Beginning: Grab a cup of coffee and a bagel and head to Grant Park in Bar Harbor at the end of Albert Meadow. If you walk toward the ocean, you will see the Shore Path. This is a path between the ocean and the front yards of mansions, some of them from the turn-of-the (19th) century. If you stroll left, it will take you to the harbor.
There were no bridges to the island in 1900, and so Natalie Barney and Renée Vivien would have arrived via the harbor. They would have boarded the Bar Harbor Express, a crack train of the New York Central that originated in Washington, and then, after a pass through Ellsworth Maine, the train would make its final stop at Hancock Point, where a steamship named The Sappho would pick them up!
If you stroll right, the Shore Path will take you past many of these fine homes and lawns. This is a wonderful way to begin a tour about Natalie Barney and Renée Vivien, who were both members of the upper class, and who no doubt strolled along the path on their way to visiting friends or going to balls at the Louisberg Hotel on Atlantic Avenue. The Louisberg is long-gone, having been torn down and sold off as three building lots.
From here, head up Mt. Desert Street, to where it intersects Kebo Street... the current location of the Port Inn. This is the site of the famous Malvern Hotel and Cottages. The summer of 1900, Natalie brought her Parisian lover over to Bar Harbor with her, to introduce her to her family and to the "summer people" she grew up with. Renée and her mother stayed at one of the Malvern cottages. Alas, the Malvern burned in the famous fire of 1947, along with Natalie's cottage. *Note: These "cottages" often had 14 rooms and, had they not been seasonal, would have been characterized as mansions.
From here, take Eden Street north and turn right on West Street to park at the Bar Harbor Historical Society, which is housed in the historical La Rochelle mansion. This 14,000 square-foot "cottage" was built in 1904, and today it affords visitors an inside look at the kind of lifestyle experienced by Natalie Barney and her friends.
Next stop, the Barney "cottage" site. Get back on Eden Street, heading north. The College of the Atlantic will be on your right. Turn left onto Highbrook Street, and then left again onto Norman Street. On the west side of Norman Street, across from the Atlantic Eyrie, was the site of Ban-y-Bryn, the cottage built by Natalie Barney's father, whose wealth came from his father, a manufacturer of railway cars. Ban-y Bryn burned down in the Great Fire of 1947. I believe the house built at 1 Norman Street rests on the original stone foundation of Ban-y-Bryn.
From the site of the Barney home, we're going to visit another elegant home, "The Willows." This was the summer home of Clara Spence and Charlotte Baker. "The Willows" was built in 1913 as a summer home for Miss Charlotte Baker. Miss Baker, an heiress to the fortune of her aunt's husband, railroad financier John Stewart Kennedy, was also a major benefactress to and later head of the Spence School for Girls, whose founder--Clara Spence--was her life partner.
The 27 room cottage was designed by the prominent Boston firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul,, who maintained a practice in Bar Harbor. While not an architectural masterpiece, "The Willows" was nevertheless a comfortable and gracious design in a modified Regency style that architects used to do so well, set on rolling lawns at the edge of an ocean bluff. Here Miss Baker spent her summers pleasantly, entertaining the many Spence alumna who summered nearby, painting in the mornings in her large conservatory, giving musicales, and visiting her aunt's fortress-like cottage, Kenarden Lodge.
The name was chosen because of the stately willow trees that lined the curving entry drive. The Willows mansion was completely restored in 2008 to its original splendor and includes a deluxe penthouse, sitting rooms furnished with time period pieces and beautiful rock gardens. Today it is part of The Atlantic Oceanside Hotel, offering 13 rooms suites and rooms for visitors.
The 27 room cottage was designed by the prominent Boston firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul,, who maintained a practice in Bar Harbor. While not an architectural masterpiece, "The Willows" was nevertheless a comfortable and gracious design in a modified Regency style that architects used to do so well, set on rolling lawns at the edge of an ocean bluff. Here Miss Baker spent her summers pleasantly, entertaining the many Spence alumna who summered nearby, painting in the mornings in her large conservatory, giving musicales, and visiting her aunt's fortress-like cottage, Kenarden Lodge.
The name was chosen because of the stately willow trees that lined the curving entry drive. The Willows mansion was completely restored in 2008 to its original splendor and includes a deluxe penthouse, sitting rooms furnished with time period pieces and beautiful rock gardens. Today it is part of The Atlantic Oceanside Hotel, offering 13 rooms suites and rooms for visitors.
Leaving The Willows, turn north on Route 3 and then left into the Hull's Cove Visitor's Center. This is the major visitor center for Acadia National Park. Here you can get maps, great suggestions from the Park Rangers, browse their gift shop,or take in a brief orientation film about the founding of Acadia National park.
Leaving the Visitor's Center, head north on Route 3 This will take you to Hull's Cove, the site of Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith's summer home. On the summit of Lookout Point, there was a "cottage" named Yule Craig, and in 1904 Jane and Mary purchased it.
It had been originally built for the son of Senator Yulee of Florida... hence the name. The cottage was a half mile from the home of one of Jane Addams' great friends and patronesses, Mrs. J.T. Bowen. There was a path connecting the cottages, and there was much visiting back and forth. (Jane once famously said that she could raise more money in a single month in Bar Harbor than all the rest of the year back home in Chicago.) The house was sold a year after Jane's death, and was renamed Thorncraig. About forty years ago, it was torn down.
Even if Yule Craig/Thorncraig was still standing, today Lookout Point Road is private and posted with "No Trespassing" signs. Here is what I recommend: When you come to the end of the Crooked Road, drive across Route 3 and park in the lot by the Chart Room. There is a good view of Lookout Point from here. The summit of it is just out of sight, but you can get a good overview.
From the Chart Room, head west on the Crooked Road, until you get to the Stone Barn Farm. Lucky you! This historic farm is now open to the public, having been purchased by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 2019. Dating back to the 1840s, the property’s iconic farmhouse has been viewed by countless Mount Desert Island visitors over the past two centuries. The farm’s other structures include a carriage house built in the late 1800s, a barn constructed in the early 1900s, and a small gazebo. It also has two miles of scenic trails.
From the intersection in front of the Stone Barn, head south on Norway Road and then turn left on Route 233, also known as Eagle Lake Road. You will be driving past Eagle Lake, which is encircled by a charming 6-mile carriage road. Heading back toward Bar Harbor, turn left on Duck Brook Road. This road runs next to Duck Brook for about a mile and ends at Duck Brook Bridge, one of the spectaclar stone bridges of Acadia National Park. This bridge was not built until 1929, and so Natalie and Renée would not have seen it in 1900, but they did ride horses and hike along Duck Brook, immortalizing one of these trips with a nude photograph of Natalie next to the brook. This is a great spot to take a hike along the carriage roads built by Rockefeller. There are 50 miles of them in the park, and many of them follow old carriage roads that would have been traveled by Barney and her friends. (You can find a downloadable map of the carriage roads here.) I recommend the circuit around Witch Hole Pond, which is about 3 miles) and if you want more, you can extend this with the loop around Paradise Hill.
The last stop on the Eastern Segment of the Lesbian History Trail, will be the Kebo Valley Golf Club to your right on the Eagle Lake Road (Route 233) This is the oldest golf club in Maine, and the eighth oldest golf club in the United States. The clubhouse also burned in the Great Fire. Natalie and her family were members of this club, where they played golf, and also rode horses. Natalie scandalized the summer people in 1899, riding astride her horse like a man, instead of sidesaddle. The next summer, 1900, she was even more the talk-of-the-town when she showed up with her girlfriend from Paris on her arm, dancing with her at the balls. This was a source of amusement to Natalie, but the introverted Renée was mortified. This was one of the factors in their breakup at the end of the summer. And this concludes the Eastern Segment of the Lesbian History Tour!