The Primrose

An 1878 Gilded Age inn on Mount Desert Street in Bar Harbor — fifteen rooms in one of the better-preserved Queen Anne houses left in town after the 1947 fire took most of the cottage row. The Primrose does small-scale nautical without the chintz: mansard rooflines, a turret, original woodwork, and a restraint in the decor that's unusual for a Bar Harbor B&B.

The location is the other reason to care. Mount Desert Street runs perpendicular to the harbor, two blocks back from Main, in the slice of town with the village green, the original library, and most of the surviving 19th-century houses. The Acadia entrance at Sieur de Monts is a five-minute drive; the Park Loop Road and the Cadillac Mountain ascent open from there.

The setting

Bar Harbor sits on the eastern half of Mount Desert Island, the Maine coastal town that grew up around the late-19th-century summer-cottage trade and was substantially rebuilt after 1947. The Primrose is in the historic core, walking distance to the harbor, the Shore Path, the Atlantic Brewing Company, and the village green. The Acadia National Park entrance at Sieur de Monts (the spring, the wild gardens, the trailheads) is a five-minute drive; Sand Beach and Thunder Hole are 15 minutes farther on the Park Loop Road.

Coming in: Bar Harbor is three hours from Portland and four and a half from Boston. The Bangor airport is fifty minutes inland. The island is busiest July through early October — peak foliage on MDI runs about a week behind interior Maine.

The building

An 1878 Queen Anne — turret, asymmetrical massing, a wide front porch, fish-scale shingles in the gables, double-height bay windows. One of the few summer-cottage-era houses in Bar Harbor proper that survived the 1947 fire. The interior keeps the period bones: high ceilings, deep moldings, original mantels, stained glass on the stair landing. Public spaces run parlor-and-porch — a sitting room with a working fireplace, a breakfast room, a wraparound porch.

The rooms

Fifteen keys, individually configured. The turret rooms are the obvious draws; a handful of rooms have private porches or balconies; bathrooms range from compact to genuinely large in the upgraded categories. Beds are king or queen with good linens, and the decor leans nautical-restrained — wide-plank floors, simple wallpaper, period furniture without the Victorian-doll-house density. From-rates around $345, climbing in peak summer and foliage.

Food & drink

A full hot breakfast is included and served in the dining room. There's no on-site restaurant or bar — Bar Harbor proper has more than enough kitchens within ten minutes' walk (Havana, Side Street Café, Galyn's, Mache Bistro, Atlantic Brewing). Afternoon tea and a small evening port hour run in the parlor.

On the property

A porch, two parlors, a small garden, off-street parking.

• Wraparound porch facing Mount Desert Street
• Working fireplaces in the parlors
• Full hot breakfast included
• Walking distance to the harbor and Acadia trailheads
• Open mid-spring through late fall (typically May to late October)

Who it's for

• Couples doing Acadia who want a town base, not a park-edge motel
• Architecture- and history-minded travelers
• Walkers and hikers using Bar Harbor as a daily base
• Travelers who like a B&B format — innkeeper, breakfast, a parlor

Who it's not for

• Families with young children — small scale and quiet
• Travelers who want a hotel program with restaurant, gym, spa
• Winter visitors — most Bar Harbor inns close November through April

Nearby

The Acadia Sieur de Monts entrance is five minutes by car; the full Park Loop Road and Cadillac Mountain ascent open from there. The Shore Path — a paved walking path along Frenchman Bay — starts a few blocks east. The harbor and the cruise-tender pier are ten minutes' walk. Jordan Pond House (popovers and tea, the standard Acadia stop) is a 25-minute drive. Northeast Harbor and the Asticou Azalea Garden are 30 minutes south. For a different day: the Schoodic Peninsula (the quiet half of Acadia, on the mainland) is an hour around the bay.