New Mistress of the Breakwater Indefatigable Bonnie Sawyer rescued a derelict summer 'cottage' and turned it into the grandest bed and breakfast on Mount Desert Island. By Nan Lincoln S TEP through the front door of the Breakwater into the great hall and you find you have suddenly stepped back in time ninety-nine years. A stream of morning sunlight pours through a huge set of diamond-paned, leaded-glass windows backing a broad landing halfway up the three-story main staircase. Here a strategically placed arrangement of lyre-backed chairs looks as if a small chamber orchestra might arrive at any moment and start playing a concerto to gently awaken the sleeping guests upstairs. Guests here today, however, are not house guests, as they would have been back in 1904, when this rambling thirty-nine-room Shore Path estate was built by John Innes Kane, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor. No, today, they are paying guests, for the Breakwater has become Bar Harbor's newest - and arguably its grandest - bed-and-breakfast inn. Mistress of the oceanfront manor is Bonnie Sawyer, who also is the person responsible for reclaiming the grand estate. When she first laid eyes on the imposing pile two years ago, the place was, quite simply, a shambles. While others saw only a massive derelict, Sawyer looked beyond the broken windows, peeling plaster, and pitted woodwork, and recognized the architectural symphony of fine craftsmanship, superior materials, and gracefully designed lines. She figured she could put it back the way it once was. "Anything I can visualize, I can do," Sawyer explains in a matter-of-fact tone, and the way the Breakwater looks today seems to back her up. Every room, from the butler's pantry with its felt-lined silver drawers to the third-floor sitting room with its Photographs by Brian Vanden Brink JUNE 1993 65 DOWN 264-67,80-81 overstuffed club chairs, has been painstakingly restored to reflect the lavish lifestyle and tastes of the Breakwater's original owner. In the great hall, on a forest-green and pink-flowered needlepoint rug, a clutch of dimpled sofas are arranged before an ornately carved fireplace. The six guest bedrooms and suites include a mistress' boudoir in a luscious combination of muted red and pink striped wallpaper, brilliantly flowered fabrics, and Persian silk rugs. The master's bedroom is a regal study in mossy green and lustrous dark leather. A child's nursery is outfitted with lacy curtains and a delicate wrought-iron and brass canopy bed. Furthermore, almost every casement window frames a panoramic view of sparkling Frenchman's Bay, the spruce-covered Porcupine islands, and the distant shore of Schoodic Point. Actually the spectacular view is the only thing for which Bonnie Sawyer cannot take full credit - although she had a lot to do with the sparkling diamond-paned windows that frame the vista. It would have been SO much easier and infinitely less expensive, she concedes, to have substituted some sort of modern reproduction window. But instead she hired a local glasswork artist to replace and re-lead literally thousands of the tiny, beveled panes. In the same way it would have been more sensible, certainly, to purchase an attractive ready-made billiard Guests today would have a hard time imagining the table for the library downstairs, but Sawyer hired a local dilapidation into which the Breakwater had fallen. Enlisting cabinetmaker to create a mission-style pool table to several local craftspeople, Sawyer restored or replaced match the room's dark oak wainscoting. For the front virtually all of the mansion's fine appointments-from the parlor, already blessed with delicately arched windows, diamond-paned, leaded-glass windows in the bedrooms elegant gold and green damask-covered love seats, original (above), to the Mission-style oak billiards table in the library Tabriz carpet, and a spectacular view of sloping lawn and (below) and the intricate woodwork on the grand staircase in sea, Sawyer eschewed plaster or Sheetrock for the ceiling the great hall (opposite, top). With only six guestrooms, the and instead ordered an intricate custom-patterned, thirty-nine-room house overlooking the fabled Shore Path pressed-tin design. is hardly crowded even when filled to capacity. "I suppose we could have gotten away with a lot of shortcuts," says Sawyer, "but my heart says we've done it right. The care that was put into this house when it was built deserves this kind of effort. "The original architect and builder sacrificed nothing in their pursuit of perfection. Look," she says, leaning out one of the casement windows and pointing to the vertices of dark half-timbers that crisscross the Tudor-style exterior. "Those are made of imported cypress. No one was importing cypress back then. How could you cheat on that sort of legacy?" Sawyer catches herself, as if she knows perfectly well how one could get away with plenty of aesthetic compromises; then she adds "Well, even if our guests don't notice all these special touches, I'd know, and feel that I'd somehow betrayed their vision." H OW did this forty-four-year-old daughter of a career service man, who spent the first decades of her working life as an army nurse, acquire a knack for nursing old homes back to health? Sawyer points to her peripatetic early years as the foundation on which she would later build her second career as a house restorer. Her father's military assignments sent her family all over the world - to Europe, the Middle East, the Orient, and finally, as fortune would have it, to Bangor, Maine. Perhaps to anchor herself in each 66 DOWN EAST of these new environments, she paid special attention to the local historical architecture of each of the cities she lived in, fixing in her mind the styles and features she liked best. Still, while studying for a nursing degree at the University of Maine, she had no idea what earthly use all this stored-up visual information would be to her. In her senior year she met and married Bangor native Tom Sawyer, a physical education major at the University of Maine. In 1972 Tom joined his father's garbage-hauling business, which he eventually bought and expanded into one of the state's largest solid-waste disposal and recycling enterprises (DOWN EAST, March, 1991). While his business grew, Bonnie had two children and continued her nursing career. In 1982 when the couple decided to build their own home, Bonnie decided to take a chance with her own creative judgment and get involved with the project. "I'd never done any designing and decorating before - I always thought it was my sister who had all the talent in that area," she says. "But I learned about floor plans and where to find good fabrics and furniture. When it was all finished I looked around at my new house and thought, 'Well, gosh, maybe I can make things come together after all." (Continued on page 80) JUNE 1993 67 Mistress of the Breakwater (Continued from page 67) this with the research we do or the re- sources we have developed." Her re- Stephen Zeh Although the house project gave her a sources include knowing, for example, Basketmaker gratifying sense of accomplishment, it where to find a company that still makes was also vaguely dissatisfying. "I'd been pressed-tin ceilings (Minnesota), excel- concentrating on what would be attrac- lent reproduction period furniture and tive and comfortable, but not about any fabrics (North Carolina), or handwoven particular architectural style," she says. Persian carpets (Iran and Turkey). Fre- "The house was nice, but just too modern quent trips to museums and historic for my tastes." places like Colonial Williamsburg add Thuss There was only one solution: Sell it, to Sawyer's already considerable knowl- TRADITIONAL MAINE BASKETS and start all over from scratch. edge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-cen- Catalogue, $2. (207) 778-2351 On this second house, Sawyer took tury design and decoration. And lest one P.O. BOX 381D, TEMPLE, MAINE 04984 full rein of the project. She hired a team think the woman is all ideas and no of carpenters from Atlantic Builders hands-on action, she has become a first- in nearby Surry and made it clear from class wallpaperer - priding herself on the start that she knew exactly what the seamless flow of the classic patterns Cadillac Mt. she wanted. The builders' initial skep- she chooses. Downhill & Oceanside ticism soon gave way to admiration for Bike Adventure the determined clarity of Sawyer's vision. Join us for breakfast while being the first in She was especially fortunate that the J UST a few months after Classical Endeavors was incorporated, a America to watch the sunrise. Then get ready foreman of the crew, Mark Sweeney, friend of Sawyer's suggested that for the bike ride of your life! The first half is an exhilarating "all-downhill" bike adventure with readily saw what she was seeking. she take a look at a derelict Tudor-style breathtaking ocean, mountain, and lake views. "I'd describe something I wanted to estate on Bar Harbor's Shore Path Then you'll switch bikes to cruise along the ocean on one of the most beautiful coastal Mark, and if what I described wasn't Breakwater. routes in America. structurally sound, he still understood "It was heartbreaking, the abuse this This is a "MUST DO" during your visit to Mt. Desert Island. exactly what effect I was trying to cre- wonderful old building had been sub- Cadillac Mt. Bike Adventures ate. Invariably he'd figure out a compro- jected to," she says. knew it would be 110 Main St., Bar Harbor 04609 mise that worked." an incredibly difficult challenge. But all 207-288-3278 Everything worked out SO well, in I could see was the potential. I was Ask about our "lakeside carriage-trail lunch tours." fact, that after this second project was certain we could do it." completed Sawyer, now bitten hard by Her partners agreed, and after clear- the building bug, decided to try her hand ing the project with Bar Harbor zoning at restoring the Tides, an old summer officials, Sawyer bought the building cottage in Bar Harbor. The ostensible and set an opening for the future bed and reason for this third house was that it breakfast for June, 1992. could be a future vacation home for Research for this massive project in- her family - when and if their lives volved rummaging through the histori- ever slowed down. In the meantime it cal archives at the local library, talking The Ruggles House could pay for itself as a small inn. But with local authorities on the grand old Columbia Falls, Maine equally compelling, Sawyer admits, was estates of Bar Harbor, and even consult- Just off Rt. 1 the chance to work on a truly historical ing octogenarian author Susan Mary Ruggles House, built in 1820. Adams- building, rather than just creating a Alsop, who spent her childhood sum- style architecture. Delicate interior and modern version of one. She asked the mers at the Breakwater after her father, exterior hand carvings. Period furniture. Surry team to return and help her with Ambassador Peter Jay, inherited the Open June 1 to October 15 Monday-Saturday 9:30 to 4:30 the restoration. place in 1926. Sundays 11:00 to 4:30 It was the collaboration on this enter- "It was Mrs. Alsop who told me prise, which she still owns and operates who had slept in each of the bedrooms as an inn, that convinced Sawyer that her when she was a child, and what all the success with Sweeney and his crew had rooms had looked like," says Sawyer. WoodenBoat School been no fluke. As a team, they clicked, "That was a wonderful reference point Idyllic surroundings and the finest and she could see no reason why they when I started putting together the inte- instructors available make the shouldn't keep on clicking. riors." WOODENBOAT SCHOOL an Thus was born Classical Endeavors. Mrs. Alsop also helped solve the exhilarating learning experience for amateurs and professionals alike. After only two years the company has mystery of a secret stairway that leads In session from mid-June to mid- already managed to turn a profit from a second-floor bedroom to the li- October, the WOODENBOAT despite the recession and despite brary. SCHOOL offers a wide variety of 1- and 2-week-long courses in Sawyer's absolute refusal to let cost in- "Apparently that was originally Mr. boatbuilding, seamanship, and terfere with craftsmanship and histori- Kane's bedroom," Sawyer explains, related crafts. cal integrity. "which has led us to wonder whether For a complete catalog: think we managed to fill a niche," he enjoyed sneaking downstairs for a WoodenBoat School says Sawyer. "Other contractors have little late-night reading or, perhaps, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616 207-359-4651 (Mon.-Thurs.) some fine craftsmen, but I don't think nightly visits with some pretty parlor- there is anyone around that combines maid." 80 DOWN EAST Sawyer has kept Mr. Kane's secret by SUBSCRIBER camouflaging the passage's working Down East SERVICE doorway with an unbroken pattern of wallpaper. 1-800-727-7422 Unable to find a table or a buffet as large as the ones Mr. Kane had ordered 1. Change of Address for his enormous dining room, Sawyer Please allow six weeks and include both your old address (include mailing had her cabinetmaker build them using label if possible) and your new address. The post office will forward your solid oak to match the paneling on the magazine for 60 days at no charge while the change takes effect. For fastest room's massive sliding doors. Every service call toll-free at the number above. morning Russell and Margot Snyder, the 2. Orders innkeepers she has hired as the Break- New Subscription - 1 year $19.95 water's hosts, lay out on these seem- Renewal 1 year $19.95 ingly endless surfaces a sumptuous Gift Subscription. To order a gift subscription ($19.95 for first subscription, breakfast of Belgian waffles, eggs Ben- $17.50 for each additional), send your name and address along with your edict, and apple-stuffed French toast recipient's name and address on a separate sheet. We will mail you an acknowl- edgment and a gift card, SO you can announce your gift personally. 3. Binders & Slipcases Mrs. Alsop Please mail your order with check payable to Jesse Jones Industries to: helped solve the Jesse Jones Industries/Down East, Dept. DOE, 499 East Erie Ave., Philadel- phia, PA 19134. Prices include postage: mystery of a Slipcases 1-$8.95 3-$24.95 6-$45.95 secret stairway that Binders 1-$10.95 3-$30.95 6-$58.95 leads from a 4. Subscription Problems second-floor For missed issues, duplicate issues, expiration questions, or any other con- bedroom to the cerns, please write or call us. library. Down East P.O. Box 871 Camden, ME 04843 topped with fresh berries and maple syrup. Russell is careful to point out that the Breakwater also offers the option of a less caloric continental breakfast of freshly baked quick breads and fruit. Were Mr. Kane himself to show up at breakfast today, he would no doubt be pleased that the guests in his home are still treated to the same service and com- forts for which he was known ninety- nine years ago. Although it's hard to see what else needs doing at the Breakwater, Bonnie Sawyer insists it is still a work in pro- gress. While she deliberates further PUMPKIN ISLAND LIGHT over additional fine furnishings or new color schemes for the gardens outside, guests at the Breakwater will continue PUMPKIN ISLAND LIGHT to bask in the comforts of an earlier Bring the romance of the sea into your own home day and imagine they are attending a with a hand-crafted ceramic Maine lighthouse. Bar Harbor house party in the style that Carrying on in the fine tradition of his father, Woody Baston made the little town on Frenchman's designed and sculpted these highly detailed figurines. Bay a resort known the world over. Plus $5.00 shipping and handling For further information, write the Break- Delivery in Maine add 6% $39.95 VISA, MasterCard or personal check water, 45 Hancock Street, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609; or call 1-800-238-6309 or 6" wide at base, numbered, limited edition only To order call or write: 1-800-542-5224 207-288-2313. Rates for the six guest Island Approaches, Route 15A, P.O. Box 67D, Sunset, Maine 04683-0067 rooms, each with fireplace and private bath, range from $175 to $295 per night, including breakfast, afternoon refresh- ISLANDAPPROACHES ments, and a wine and cheese social hour. JUNE 1993 81 NEW