Rising Sun is the perfect spot for multi-generational family gatherings. Every generation will love it, as will your dogs!

Enjoy perfect privacy, right on Frenchman's Bay, with magnificent vistas of the open ocean as well. Our very private road is quite as safe and beautiful as Acadia's Carriage Roads, and it bounds the National Park. Walk ten minutes to Schooner Head Trail ( go north to Compass Harbor; south to Schooner Head, Anemone Cave, Sand Beach and the Ocean Path). Your early morning walk with your dogs will be a highlight of any day!

Your panoramic views from inside Rising Sun include Bald Porcupine, Ironbound, Egg Rock and the Thrumcap Islands. You'll not find such ocean views and intimacy with the water anywhere else on Mount Desert Island (MDI)!

Families with kids especially enjoy our resident wildlife -- deer, turkeys, red fox family, marmots, weasels, cormorants, eagles, osprey, seals -- all visit us frequently. But despite our very private, rural location, we're only a five-minute drive or ten-minute bike ride to the center of Bar Harbor.

We're sure you'll feel Rising Sun is Heaven on Earth, once you've arrived! But for now, we'll describe five major differences between Rising Sun and the other oceanfront homes that you might rent anywhere on MDI.

1. Proximity:
When we were renting vacation homes prior to building Rising Sun, we stayed in many other parts of Mount Desert Island (MDI). In particular, when we stayed in Southwest Harbor or other areas on the western side of the island, we found the drive back and forth to Bar Harbor to be tiresome. Round trip, it’s over an hour. At night, the trip was often unwelcome.

So now, we especially appreciate our combination of great privacy with proximity to the center of Bar Harbor (five to eight minutes, and we’re parked!); to the nearest Park Trails (a most pleasant ten minute walk along our little road that is quite as beautiful as any carriage road in the Park); to Ocean Drive (seven minutes); and to the nearest Island Explorer bus stop – great for kids – which is just a fifteen minute walk.

2. Privacy:
Rising Sun is at the very end of a series of very private roads off Main Street. No other location on MDI is more private. Despite this, we’re only minutes from the center of Town. This combination is truly unique.

3. Shore Front:
Our ocean frontage is significantly different from almost all other vacation rentals. In particular, you’ll find that low tide brings mud flats in Hulls Cove, Somes Sound and Southwest Harbor. The same is true in many other locations (Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, other areas of Bar Harbor, and anywhere near the bridge entering MDI). However, at Rising Sun our granite rocks extend out into deep water, even at low tide! Sit on our rocks and dip your toes in the ocean.


In a nutshell, the ocean front at Rising Sun is beautiful and exciting at all times of day and night! All in all, you’ll find our ocean frontage to be as beautiful as any in the Park … but with two major differences:
• Ours is totally private, quite different from the Park.
• Also, ours is a few minutes from your bedroom… you don’t have to drive anywhere to enjoy it! Look at the photos, and you’ll see what we mean.

4. Beauty:
You’ll spend many hours in whatever vacation home you choose. Much better that it be really beautiful rather than really ugly! (Take a look at many of the other rental home photos, then decide for yourself.)

5. Five More Important Features:
Our home provides five especially important features. No other summer rental home has all of these. Though an alternative rental may be less expensive, the lack of even one of these five features can put a serious damper on your family’s fun..

Central Air Conditioning:
Years ago, it was rare for Bar Harbor to have a real heat wave. Now, we sometimes get three or four days in a row of 90 degree weather. Our proximity to the ocean provides natural cooling, but when that’s not enough, our central air conditioning keeps the entire house perfectly comfortable, even during the hottest heat wave. Imagine a week’s vacation when each day you come home to a hot, stuffy house. Then imagine coming home to Rising Sun…

Air Filtration System:
During the many vacations we spent on MDI before building Rising Sun, we all too often encountered houses with a whiff of mustiness or even worse, mildew or mold. You’ll find this especially prevalent in some of the older homes, even including the “mansions.” Not enjoyable!

We designed our home to provide strong cross-ventilation, taking advantage of the ocean breeze. More pure air, you cannot find! But if the windows are closed due to the weather outside, the whole house air filtration system circulates and replaces the inside air with outside air four times a day. Simply put, no matter the weather outside, you’ll find the most pure, delightful air in Rising Sun. It does matter!

Plenty of Hot Water:
Rising Sun provides instant, plentiful hot water. You’re quite unlikely to find this luxury anywhere else.

Whole House Emergency Generator:
The power supply on MDI is not the most dependable. Even if you were to lose electricity for just a few hours, losing lights, water, toilets, refrigeration and air conditioning (if any) is not fun. If the outage lasts a day or more, it really will put a damper on your vacation. But not at Rising Sun! Our generator is the largest residential generator on the market. It’ll easily power the whole house, including our central air conditioning.

Variety of Exercising Opportunities:
A set of dumbbells (pairs) ranging in weight from 5 pounds to 75 pounds each; a stationary exercise bike; a yoga wall with mats and straps (see the photo of the Yoga Bedroom); and outside, you can walk, jog or bike along our driveway and private road or play pickle ball (half-court) on our lawn. Five minutes from the house, you’ll find a facility housing an Olympic-sized pool; a running track; a well-equipped weight and exercise room; and a regulation basketball court (with pickup games available). You’ll also find tennis courts and a baseball field nearby.


Enjoy The Best Possible Day... Every Day!
Each day, there are so many possible sights to see and activities to enjoy on Mount Desert Island! Over the years, we've developed our proprietary Best Possible Day℠ planning for the benefit of our guests. By combining our own extensive knowledge of MDI with the interests of each member of your party, we can quite effectively double the amount of fun each and every guest has on their vacation! We plan separately for "Blue Sky", "Cloudy" and "Rainy" Days.

This day-planning is not something we do FOR you, but rather, we do it interactively WITH you and your family, and it all begins when you first book your vacation at Rising Sun. Our guests love the way this gets their entire family enjoying their vacation months ahead of time!

The photo gallery will show you just how unique a choice Rising Sun would be for your family’s vacation. If you’re considering other alternatives, please keep these five unique attributes of Rising Sun in mind:
• Proximity
• Privacy
• Shore Front
• Beauty
• And Five More Critical Features

Our new luxury home was completed in 2014. Three floors. Two master bedrooms with king beds; three with queen beds; one with a king and twin bed, which can be set up with three twin beds. Accommodates up to twelve.

Our oceanfront is quite as spectacular as any you'll see in Acadia. But it's totally private, just for you. Many of the "oceanfront" homes rented in Bar Harbor are separated from the shore by the Shore Path, along which the general public walks day and night. Quite a difference!

And most of the other "oceanfront" homes advertised are on quiet inlets like Somes Sound, or other locations on Frenchman's Bay. Low tide brings mud flats for many of them. But not ours! View our photos to see the difference! All photos are taken on our property, not "nearby".

Our hot tub is nestled in a rock outcropping surrounded by trees, providing a lovely view of Frenchman's Bay.

If you love to cook, you'll find our kitchen and pantry make this the most enjoyable place you've ever cooked. We provide a complete array of herbs, spices, sugars, salts, peppers, flour, etc for your culinary use. For cooking, you'll love our selection of professional, SHARP knives, as well as the broad selection of pots, pans and cooking and baking equipment. You'll enjoy the incredible amount of stainless steel prep space; two large sinks; powerful exhaust hood... and all the ocean views, while you cook.

At night, under the star-filled heavens, a short walk along our very private road is delightful. Trees line the road on both sides, except for an occasional driveway. It's just as beautiful as any carriage road in Acadia, except it's just you on an evening stroll. The Acadian heavens are largely free of light pollution, so you'll find the stars truly amazing. And the peaceful solitude of our private road, equally so.

If you're an early riser, the morning dew, the cool air, and possibly the fox family will share your walk of a mile or so. We often continue along the National Park Trail that leads to Compass Harbor, with its spectacular views of the Porcupine Islands.

If you're here during blueberry season (late July-mid August), please enjoy picking the wild blueberries (many, many plants) from the patch on our trail just above our cobblestone beach.

If you were to never leave our property, you could easily have your most relaxing, meditative, nature-appreciating vacation ever. And at the other extreme, if you were to explore Acadia National Park to the fullest every day, coming home in the evening to cocktails, dinner and the hot tub, you would have your most invigorating, exciting, nature-appreciating vacation ever...

Enjoy a week or two of Paradise. If you have dogs, please do bring them! They'll love Rising Sun, Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.