Visiting the Cottages at Cabot Cove

It is finally summertime!  Not officially by the calendar, but it sure seems like it around here with our 95+ degree weather this past week.  Summer normally means a beach trip to Florida for our family, but that’s not going to happen this year.  Our son’s car recently decided that it needed a new transmission more than we needed a beach vacation. So that means no ocean breeze, no sound of the waves, no walks on the beach for us this summer.  I am just going to have to settle for reliving previous beach trips in my mind – but right now I am thinking of a different beach trip than one of our Florida ones.

Six years ago (almost to the day) my husband and I took a trip to New England.  We flew into upstate New York and drove a rental car up the coast to Maine.  The scenery along the coast was breathtaking.  We visited lighthouses and fishing villages, ate lobster rolls in quaint restaurants, shopped in cute little boutiques, and just had a wonderful time.

The place we stayed in Kennebunkport was precious.  You have probably seen the Cottages at Cabot Cove featured in magazines.  Coastal Living did an article on them a few years ago.  They are an assortment of sixteen very tiny cottages that were each decorated by a different designer as a decorator’s showhouse fundraising event.

We stayed in the Tranquility Cottage (appropriately named!).  It was next to the innkeepers’ cottage if I remember correctly.  Each morning they would bring us pastries, fruit, and juice for breakfast.  There is a kitchen, living area, bedroom, and bathroom in each cottage.

As I have said, the cottages are very small (except for 2 of them,)  but it just adds to the atmosphere of the place.

When I called for reservations, the cottage that was my first choice was this one.

Float In is larger than Tranquility, and it has a very heavy dose of classic nautical accents. As you can see out the window, it has a great view of the cove.   Unfortunately, it was already booked at the time I called.

Another cottage there is the Sea Worthy Cottage.  It was decorated by Cottage Home Maine…a company I ordered a large wicker chair from for my greatroom a couple of years ago.

I found the photo above on the decorator’s site.  They must have removed the upper part of the cabinet after the showhouse tours to put the flat screen television in.

Seamist Cottage is another cottage with a gorgeous cabinet in it.

Harbor Cottage is one of their largest.  Here is a photograph of it at night…

And here is the little dining area in the living room.

Ebb Tide Cottage is decorated with more modern accents.  Its ceiling is a beautiful stained wood.

Many of the cottages were initially for sale and managed by the innkeepers.  Ebb Tide is still listed for sale if you would like to buy it for yourself.  There is a little video on the real estate listing here.

There are some negative reviews of the customer service on Trip Advisor, but there is a more recent entry saying that the management had changed.  We had absolutely no problems whatsoever while we stayed there.  In fact the folks went out of there way to help us find places to eat and see around the area – even beyond Kennebunkport.  In our opinion, overall it was a great place to stay.

Don’t you think these are THE most precious cottages? And I have only shown you just a few of the sixteen.  If you click on any of the photos above, it will take you to the website, and you can pore over all of them.

Hope you have enjoyed our little trip to the Cottages at Cabot Cove.  Glory, it would be so nice to really be sitting there in that adirondack chair.