Where Farrand Once Walked: New Garden Path Will Open at Reef Point off Bar Harbor's Shore Path
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Thrive Juice Bar & Kitchen.
BAR HARBOR—For the first time in 70 years, visitors will once again be able to experience a piece of what was once the famed gardens of Beatrix Farrand’s Reef Point estate.
While the original Shore Path entrance and sweeping grounds remain part of history, the new owners of the portion of Reef Point where Farrand’s cottage once stood are creating something fresh and a piece of that will be a smaller, more intimate garden designed to welcome the public.
At approximately 125 feet in length, the new side path will allow walkers to step off the sometimes busy Shore Path, slow down, and imagine they are walking amongst the grand, often experimental gardens of yesteryear.
Farrand’s Reef Point Gardens
The famous landscape gardener and landscape architect’s parents purchased Reef Point and Farrand spent much of her youth there with the property reportedly helping to foster her love of plants and landscapes. The property was originally approximately six acres and stretched from Atlantic Avenue to Hancock Street in Bar Harbor proper. The house which was to become known as the Bar Harbor residence of Farrand was built in 1883.
Farrand married Max Farrand in 1913 and at some point in time took possession of the estate. Over the ensuing years, Farrand established an expansive garden on the property and used the gardens as a vehicle for experimenting with horticulture and landscape design concepts.
The gardens at Reef Point were laid out on grids. At the corner intersections of each grid stood small granite columns with a metal button embedded in the top with four numbers, two on either side of a line. The line was the demarkation line for the two plots on either side of the marker. This system helped Farrand keep track of what was where and allowed guests to know where they were in the gardens and more easily identify the plants in each quadrant.
Farrand also amassed a large collection of horticultural materials and established a horticultural reference library in the residence.
Farrand’s husband Max died in 1945 and two years later the devastating fires of 1947 burned much of the land heading into town. With that fire came the loss of the many of the summer cottages of the wealthy. This lead to decreased land values and increased property taxes for the surviving properties.
Aging and unable to keep up with increasing tax rates, Farrand allegedly approached the Town of Bar Harbor and asked the town to give Reef Point tax relief under the premise that Reef Point was a public garden. The town refused the request.
In 1955 Farrand decided to dismantle both the house and gardens. In 1956 she sold the property to Robert Patterson, a Reef Point board member and architect. The house was dismantled and much of it was used to expand Garland Farm in Bar Harbor where Farrand spent her remaining years.
The majority of the gardens, with the financial help of John D. Rockefeller Jr. were dug up and moved to the Asticou Azalea and Thuya gardens.
The Current Reef Point Gardens
According to project manager and owner of Riverside Group LLC, a design/build firm in Mount Desert, Cameron DePaola, the current owners of 2 Reef Point purchased the property in September 2024 after having summered in Bar Harbor for approximately 15 years.
DePaola is responsible for the design and installation of the new gardens and landscaping and is also overseeing the reconstruction of the house which is being stripped to the studs, inside and out, majorly refurbished, and will also be added on to.
While the public access garden path will be comparatively minimal, the grounds, which will be very visible due to a lack of a fence, should be appealing to most. The northern part of the visible grounds will be an apple orchard with pathways up to a patio area.
This patio area will be built atop an original stone foundation that, according to at least one long-term neighbor, supported a glass greenhouse in the past. The foundation is restricted from being built upon and will be be used as an outdoor gathering area.
The middle section of the grounds will be mostly grass, providing a viewshed to the water from the house.
The southern section, which includes the public pathway, will be planted gardens and to the west of the gardens will be a maintained forested park-like feel. The public-access garden path will also have a bench or two for resting and reflection.
The entirety of the property border with the Shore Path will be planted gardens interspersed with a private entryway for the residents and guests and separate public entryways.
DePaola said that while it is almost impossible to replicate Farrand’s plantings, due to climate change and changes in the overall landscape, he has been trying to recreate color scheme and textures used by Farrand while also keeping the desires of the current owners in mind.
Additionally, DePaola hopes to be able to bring some original plantings back to the property from the Asticou Azalea gardens.
This picture, shared with the Bar Harbor Story, by Dawna Burton, shows the views that can be taken in from the public access path. Imagine sitting on one of the benches, once the path is complete, in the morning to start your day or in the evening just letting the stressors of your day melt away.
The House
The house that currently stands at 2 Reef Point is not Farrand’s house. As mentioned previously, Farrand had her house and gardens dismantled when property taxes became too much of a burden for her. Farrand’s house is pictured below.
The house that currently stands on the property is the house that replaced Farrand’s and is thought to be only the second home to be built on the property. The current house was built by Donald Hobbs most likely about 1961 after he purchased the property in 1958.
In the interim time between Farrand selling the property to Patterson and when Hobbs purchased the existing portion where the current house is the property had been broken into a number of different lots.
The existing house was intentionally preserved by the new owners and after all upgrades have been made, will slightly mimic Farrand’s house in design more than appearance. Farrand’s house had an enclosed walkway on each side that led to supplementary living spaces.
In the above photo of Farrand’s cottage is a portion of one of the enclosed walkways that led to what is now an abutting and separate property, 1 Reef Point, but was once part of the original property.
That structure, which has a turret attached to it, still stands as the residence of the current 1 Reef Point property owners. When it was part of Farrand’s original property, the home was allegedly a place of escape for her from the guests and students using the gardens and botanical library. From the turret, Farrand could look out over much of her landscape and see the ocean.
The new residence will also have enclosed connectors to living spaces on each side of the main structure. It will be a private residence and there are no plans for any sort of lodging, a rumor that DePaola said he has heard people talking about as they pass on the Shore Path, while he is working on the landscaping.
The circular driveway on the side of the house where owners or guests arrive has plantings in the center and these have been left largely untouched with the exception of maintenance pruning and the removal of some recent invasive plants. The majority of the remaining old growth in this section was planted by Farrand.
DePaola hopes to have the majority of the landscaping completed this fall. The greater part of the renovations to the residence should be finished by next summer with some ongoing work to continue beyond that point.
The Original Shortening of the Shore Path
While the property will not have a fence, the thought is that the public access portion will help minimize pedestrians crossing the property in an attempt to get to Hancock Street.
It was this same cross-property foot traffic that was the first step in shortening what used to be a much longer Shore Path.
The original terminus of the Shore Path was Kenarden Lodge. Kenarden was constructed in 1892 for John Stewart Kennedy who was a wealthy businessman, philanthropist, and one time member of the Village Improvement Association. Since 1881, when the Shore Path was established, the VIA has been tasked with maintaining the path.
Originally, and until 1905, the Shore Path ran to the Kennedy property, Kenarden, and walkers of the path frequently cut across the Kenarden grounds to return to town. Kennedy, while monetarily philanthropic, must have grown tired of the intrusion of the public and the flow of people across his property.
An article in the July 15, 1905, edition of the Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston Saturday Journal) showcases the fact that Bar Harbor had a new Italian garden that summer. That Italian garden was built on the grounds of Kenarden.
According to the article, “Passing through the Kenarden Lodge grounds, one could pass on to the village streets. Mr. Kennedy has taken umbrage, however, at the public’s possession and privileges and has built the Italian garden, closing passage in that direction.”
The owners of 2 Reef Point have asked to remain private and did not wish to draw attention to themselves by being named in this article.
Unless otherwise cited, all photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story
UPDATED: A photo submitted by Dawna Burton and some related verbiage by Bar Harbor Story was added to this article at 2:00 p.m., August 21, 2015.
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