A Restored Cottage Resort Brings Magic Again to a Nook of Maine

Like most seashore cities, Ogunquit, Maine has been considerably subsumed by an exaggerated nautical aesthetic: striped sailor shirts, lobster-emblazoned every part, shell-encrusted image frames, “however first, espresso” posters. A minimum of that is the overwhelming impression inside the touristy retailers of its compact and crowded downtown. The seaside sprawl extends alongside Foremost Avenue; driving alongside its motel- and condo-clogged size, you won’t anticipate {that a} pristine paradise is true across the nook.

And but, 1 / 4 mile or so from the primary drag, you enter an insulated idyll, the place it feels as you probably have stepped again in time. The brisk sound of visitors is overtaken by the mild roar of the ocean; a broad sweep of tidal estuary, bordered on the far facet by sand dunes, encompasses virtually the complete horizon—as gorgeous a panorama as any painted by the artist Charles Woodbury at first of the twentieth century, when he established Ogunquit’s first artwork colony, fairly rightly recognizing that this mixture of air, mild, and seaside panorama fashioned one thing actually particular. (The fantastic artwork Ogunquit Museum of American Artwork, with its completely curated assortment of treasures impressed and associated to the world, is a wonderful introduction to the inventive heritage of the area; it additionally gives gorgeous sculpture gardens to wander round.)

The historical past of The Dunes on the Waterfront, a resort that opened earlier this summer time after an intensive renovation, is baked into the land and structure of the property. Initially bought as farmland within the Nineteen Thirties, the 12-acre property was transformed into visitor cottages and run by the identical household as a small resort for 3 generations. In 2023, the Maine-based entrepreneur and hotelier Tim Harrington bought the property and spent the low season giving it a radical overhaul. (The Salt Cottages in Bar Harbor and The Claremont Resort in Southwest Harbor are additionally beneath his purview.)

An inside of one of many cottages at The Dunes.Photograph: Katie Nielson