The Project & Our Goals

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The good news is that in the 1930's, the York Harbor Improvement Corporation published a 60-page booklet of individual pictures of the cottages of the summer colony and listed the (then) current owners of the cottages with a fold-out map of the cottage locations.  The booklet was a promotional piece used to encourage potential visitors to come to York Harbor to rent or buy one of the cottages.  It probably was not recognized when it was published in 1930 that the United States was headed for the years after the stock market crash of 1929 and beginning of the end of the cottage era.  Unlike other summer colonies in Maine this booklet represents a very significant physical record of the cottages and established a baseline for our project.

At the end of this section is a PDF file for a digitized version of this publication by the Maine State Library. 

Although referred to commonly as the “Shingle Style", the cottages built between 1880 and 1930 in York Harbor represent a range of architectural styles including Colonial Revival, Queen Ann, Victorian, Tutor and Arts & Craft or Stickley style.  Many cottage's exteriors were covered in shingles (instead of clapboards or stucco) and many features were copied from one cottage to another. 

Much has changed by 2021 in the 91 years since this booklet was published, but fortunately an estimated 75% of the cottages listed in the publication still survive today.  One of the first challenges of The York Harbor Cottage Project was to take an inventory of what exists today and compare this to the booklet to establish a baseline.  Cottages have been altered, trees have grown, and sometimes the angle of the photograph taken did not represent the ‘common’ view from the street or the cliff path (ocean) side.  We had a daunting task of verifying over 150 cottages and where possible, taking a current photograph of the cottage.  We believe that in some cases, we have provided a photograph on this site that is a better representation of the cottage architecturally than what was shown in the original booklet of 1930.At The York Harbor Cottage Project, we offer a variety of programs and events throughout the year, including lectures, workshops, walking tours, and more. Our goal is to engage the community and provide opportunities for everyone to learn about our shared history.

Our goals for this project:

• Celebrate and enjoy the architectural styles of the Summer Colony of York Harbor, Maine between the 1880’s and the 1930’s.
• Put the York Harbor Summer Colony into historical context with the other summer communities along the Maine Coast at this period of time.
• Collect, aggregate,  and verify information about individual cottages and make this information available to the general public.
• Help others to perform their own research to document their cottages for future generations.

Here are some of the Key Insights and Learnings from the York Harbor Cottage Project:

Hidden in Plain Sight – many elements of the York Harbor Colony from the 1890’s are still present, but you need to look with a different lens. Cottages have been modified, trees have grown, and stories have been exaggerated. One of the more interesting aspects of this concept is that some of the original families remain, but their names have changed through marriage.

Changes are Non-Linear – time moves on but at different rates. In the case of York Harbor, there was a very long tail (over 100 years) for change. Some elements have been frozen in time, and other moved rapidly and kept pace. The 1970’s and early 1980’s represented a major inflection point as many cottages were torn down or modified to accommodate condominium structures. Major infrastructure and social centers of the Colony, such as the Marshall House Hotel, were totally eliminated.  The decline of one lifestyle is replaced with another lifestyle.

Big did not Survive - the larger the cottage, the greater the chance that it would last less than 50 years.

Underlying Systems and Relationships– One of the non-visible aspects of the York Harbor Colony were the underlying systems and relationships. We can see the cottages that were built, but we cannot see the original owners, architects, relationship and business systems that underpinned the Colony.  There was a well-defined support system (ecosystem) – clubs, architects, banks, insurance, food and supplies, local help and caretakers for the summer colony. Some of this infrastructure exists today but serves a broader purpose.

Context is Important - Although York Harbor cottage owners were wealthy and prominent, they were definitely second to the Rockefellers, Pulitzers and Vanderbilts of Bar Harbor and Newport, RI

Rental vs Ownership Model for Cottages – perhaps one of the biggest discoveries was how dominant the rental model was for the cottages. In the first 20 years (1890-1910) of the Colony, the majority of the cottages were not built for a single owner, but part of the rental inventory in the Colony. There were many examples of a single cottage that were rented for 5-10 years or more by the same family. A typical practice for cottage renters was to rent a secession of cottages over different summers to test locations and views before they purchased an existing cottage or built a custom cottage.

The history of an individual cottage is interesting, but the real story is understanding who lived there, the summer colony community and the different types of cottages that were being built.

o The first generation cottage owners were self-made businessmen, lawyers, doctors, artist, college presidents and ministers

o There are many, many connections between cottage owners in York Harbor and events in New York, Washington and other parts of the world.

· Many cottages change visual form – but they are still there. They look different (enclosing of porches, loss of shutters, growth of trees and bushes).

o Original families may also be in York Harbor, but their (last) names are different

o Dilution of wealth – still in York Harbor, but live in far more modest cottages than their grandparents

More Tactical Learnings

· For a small summer colony – there were some famous architects that did work in York Harbor. Cottage owners brought their own architects. Architectural details were copied from one cottage to another. 

· Entire cottages can disappear without many records or photos.

· Most people stay in the area for 10 to 20 years and then leave. People moved around from cottage to cottage, and then some built their own cottage. Neighbors often bought property from each other.