Travel

Whitehall Inn

Digs for Design Lovers

Photo courtesy of Lark Hotels

Top decorators have been making their mark on Maine’s inns. Feast your eyes on these stylish places to stay.

Whitehall
Photo courtesy of Lark Hotels

Whitehall

The Space: An 1834 Camden farmhouse turned seasonal inn, redesigned in 2015 by Rockport’s Phi Builders + Architects and Boston’s Rachel Reider Interiors. 36 rooms, patio, shuffleboard court.

Rates: $99–$399/night

Namesake: Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was discovered when she recited at a 1912 talent show in the lobby — hence the “Millay Room” off the foyer.

Design Details: The view Millay took in from atop Mount Battie — “three long mountains and a wood” and “three islands in a bay” — is reflected in a green, turquoise, and “lobster-buoy red” palette, says Reider. Rustic wood touches reinforce the outdoorsy theme.

The Francis
Photo by Irvin Serrano

The Francis

The Space: A formerly vacant 1881 Victorian in Portland’s West End neighborhood, reborn as an inn last year with help from local pros Archetype Architects, Wright-Ryan Construction, and designer Tracy Davis of Urban Dwellings. 15 rooms, restaurant, spa.

Rates: $129–$525/night

Namesake: Architect Francis Fassett, who helped rebuild Portland after the great fire of 1866, designed the original residence with his now-famous protégé John Calvin Stevens.

Design Details: Davis juxtaposed neutral furnishings in contemporary shapes with the historic architecture, creating intriguing contrast while allowing the building’s carved woodwork, fir plank and parquet floors, tiled fireplaces, stained-glass windows, and dramatic ceiling pitches to shine.

Mercury Inn
Photo by Justin Levesque, courtesy of Tyler Karu Design + Interiors

Mercury Inn

The Space: Turn-of-the century Victorian inn in Portland’s Parkside neighborhood reimagined as a mod B&B in 2014, courtesy of Saco’s Godsoe Builders and Tyler Karu of Portland’s Landing/design. 7 rooms.

Rates: $115–$300/night

Namesake: Mercury, the ancient Roman god of merchants, thieves, and tricksters — and travelers.

Design Details: The layering of gray paints and metal accents references the inn’s namesake and provides a quiet counterpoint to mid-century furniture in eye-popping shades. Yellow and chartreuse “exclamation points” show up all over, creating cohesiveness, Karu says, while decorations such as glass fishing floats and Sea Bags pillows on the beds nod to the coast.