Island Waterfront Home, Maine

Look no further if you're looking for a home on the water with ample room. The house comes with 7 bedrooms (1 office) and 5 baths. There are 3 additional bedrooms with a private bath in the adjoining cottage, attached to the house by a covered porch off the kitchen. Use of a communally owned dock, boathouse, beach, and possible mooring access is available subject to approval by the Ames Point Boat House Association. At the end of the lawn stretching down to the water is a pebble beach for small children and a boathouse with a swing and hammock for rainy day play. Kids love searching the beach for crabs and using the beach clay found at low tide to build creations.

The property is for rent in June, July, September, and October only. NO AUGUST RENTALS. The Maine state ferry, which permits cars and bicycles, makes trips to and from Rockland three times daily. The house is off a private road on Ames Point, whose waterfront is overseen by nine homeowners who have summer homes on the point. A New England Cape, it has been in the same family since 1923 and offers ample accommodation. Until recently, it had been rented in July for more than a decade by the same family.

An ideal picnic boat named 'Adabo,' a 23-foot Steiger craft with brand new 225 hp outboard, is available for charter by the owner to qualified renters, as is a North Haven Dingy, a small Alden-designed gaff rigged sailboat.

As you approach the house from the front lawn, a cozy table and chairs invite you to sit under the shade of two pine trees and watch the boats go by. The front door opens to a spacious entry foyer. To the right is a study with broadband access and a connecting bathroom with a stall shower. It also has a long desk and a four-way printer. This room can also double as a bedroom with a twin bed and private bath. WiFi is available throughout the house.

The large L-shaped living room features a deep wood burning fireplace, two sitting areas, an upright piano, and a discreetly located 32-inch flat-screen TV. French doors open onto the deck with 220-degree ocean views, with sunset views of the Fox Islands Thoroughfare and Southern Harbour to the right. Beyond the living room, a private downstairs Master bedroom awaits with a brand new queen bed and attached full bath. From the side porch opposite the kitchen, three additional downstairs bedrooms (1 new queen bed in one room and the two other bedrooms each have one single bed) and a full bath can accommodate extra guests. Also off the porch is a spacious eat-in kitchen with two fridges, two sinks (one extra-large slate sink), updated counters and a sunny breakfast nook with a bay window view of the ocean. The large kitchen is big enough to allow two families to comfortably cook at the same time without bumping into one another. The adjoining dining room can accommodate 10-14 people.

Five, second-floor bedrooms provide spacious accommodations for friends and family alike. The master bedroom boasts sweeping ocean views and a full bath with a claw foot tub. Three additional bedrooms can sleep seven in twin beds. A pack-n-play is also available. A full hall bathroom is equipped with a tub shower. The fifth bedroom/guest suite includes a separate staircase, a private bath, two exposures, and another queen bed.

A five-minute, one-mile drive takes you to the town of North Haven. The island has three working harbors with a bustling fleet of lobstermen. Downtown has three restaurants, post office, library, boatyard, art gallery, and gift shop. Waterman's Community Center offers a coffee shop (serving great coffee and the best homemade muffins ever)! The main sitting area is equipped with communal games, a train set, ping pong table, and Wifi. It also offers high-quality art classes, summer camps, a daycare, and an art gallery. Off of the coffee shop's main room is a theater where weekly movies, art, plays, music, presentations, and events are featured throughout the summer. The North Haven Casino, the island's unpretentious 100-year-old yacht club, supports two tennis courts and offers sailing and tennis lessons.

Nebo Lodge is a special place to eat, with its award-winning cuisine using island-grown meat and organic produce. Visit Nebo's cozy, yet bustling, bar for creative cocktails and delicious wines. Calderwood Hall Pizzeria & Market offers homemade pizza, salads, and a full bar. During the day, Calderwood Hall is a market selling local, organic produce and culinary delights. Fresh bread is cooked daily. An ice cream shack offers Gifford's ice cream on specific afternoons. There is a new organic market offering homemade sandwiches, cookies and local goods. There is a brewery down town as well serving local North Haven brews and The Landing is a popular lunch spot with crab and lobster rolls along with burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches and salads.

Turner Farm is a diversified organic saltwater farm on the island of North Haven that produces MOFGA certified-organic vegetables, flowers, poultry, herbs and eggs. They also produce pasture-raised beef and pork and operate a pasture-based goat dairy. The dairy provides milk for their farmstead Creamery, which specializes in fresh chèvre and artisan goat and cow cheeses. Their Farm Stand is open in the barn each Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am-1 pm from May through September. Children enjoy the homemade pastries, a walk to visit the farm animals, and a stop at the farm's beautiful beach. They also offer barn dinners. Reservations required.

On the main post flanking downtown's Main Street, you will see local events advertised such as Yoga classes, fresh oysters for sale, and a Saturday Farmers Market. The island has a 9-hole golf course cited by GOLF as one of the finest small courses in America, and even a branch of the Rockport YMCA with a fully equipped fitness center. But many enjoy simply bicycling the many roads around the island, kayaking the thoroughfare or picnicking by boat at one of the hundreds of uninhabited surrounding islands. One day it might be a boat ride to the white islands replete with its white granite shores and another day, a trip to Brimstone island to skip stones on its black rock beach or hike to its highest point, with 360-degree views of Isle Au Haut, Matinicus, Stonington, and Vinalhaven.

What makes vacationing unique on this island is that so little has changed over the years. Follow a trail through the woods and make a gentle climb up to 'Ames Knob.' Soak up the view from there of Cadillac Mountain and the Camden Hills. Looking down on the Thoroughfare you can often see two and three-masted schooners that used to carry cargo up and down the coast and are now filled with passengers eager for a maritime experience. With the wind in their sails, the schooners slip past without a sound. You could easily believe that time has stood still. Everything about North Haven is in slow motion.

June and July are some of the best months of the summer to rent on North Haven. The weather is warm, but not too warm; the dog days of August are still to come. Ames Point still awaits the arrival of most of its summer residents, and you may find that some days you or your family are the only ones using the beach and dock.

Come and experience a truly relaxing vacation in one of Maine’s most beautiful, preserved, and private locations.

NOTE: We do not host weddings on the property. And we are only interested in two-week or longer renters in July-- especially renters that hope to return annually. Occasionally exceptions can be made in June/September.