Once in a while you come across a summer rental owned and operated by someone interested in more than just providing their tenants with shelter, a working microwave, a few nice wine glasses and a comfortable bed. Rare is a rental anchored by a commitment to preserving an actual experience. But this is that sort of find, not just a structure but an experience, one informed by attributes of the surrounding landscape and community that, though faced with the inexorable forces of change, are part of something that people like these owners are fighting to retain. How fortunate for us...
This is the place for you if you are a person who enjoys being surrounded by the quiet timelessness of rural, seafaring Maine. Part of this experience is the location of the property…down a country road on a peninsula in Midcoast that mixes the nearby hustle and bustle of town with long, sloping, open views of bays and fields. But the balance is supported by the old Oxen Barn space itself, the eclectic and tasteful articles chosen for furnishing the rooms and the gorgeous bit of land that surrounds it and extends across the road to the coastline.
My wife and our two young children were enchanted by the moments we had together during our week here…and though school and work have now intruded on our memories, there is a part of us that will always be reading together on the porch, sailing a frisbee over the freshly mown field, sailing across the unspoiled bay or enjoying a quiet, candlelit dinner on the rough-hewn farm table in front of the soaring barn windows. Kudos to the owners of this property for giving the rest of us the opportunity to experience Maine as it once was, and how we hope a part of it will always be.