Gorgeous Lake House Right on the Water!

A lovely traditional Maine cottage on Damariscotta Lake, this seasonal rental features a private shorefront area with a deck, a jetty for swimming and boat access, and a private dock with canoes and paddleboat. The cottage offers a cozy retreat on a beautiful lake, with the many attractions of midcoast Maine only a short drive away. The cottage is available with a three-day minimum stay. We cannot accept third-party bookings. The person making the reservation must stay at the cottage. The space Although fairly private, the cottage is not isolated, and shares an access road and jetty into the lake with two other cottages, one about 200 feet away, the other about 500 feet away. If these are occupied during your stay, you may see the neighbors. The original cottage (or "camp," as we say in Maine) was built over a couple summers in the mid-1960s by my grandparents, Bill and Evelyn Baxter, with lots of help from their long-suffering children and volunteer friends. Bill and Evelyn bought the land at about the same time another family, close friends, bought the lot next it, and the two families worked together over the next few years to build their summer places. The land was dense forest, cleared largely by hand. In time, a driveway went in, one to serve both camps. The camp itself went up over the next couple years, largely built by the the Baxters themselves (with help from more skilled friends for the tricky parts) from scavenged and new materials, and furnished with findings from garage sales, summer auctions, and the occasional treasure from the town dump. Like most camps at the time, it was a work-in-progress for many years; running water, an indoor shower and septic system were installed only some years later. Summers at the lake were spent swimming, boating, learning to water-ski, making new summer friends from the neighboring camps, going for ice cream on warm evenings, and occasional day excursions around mid-coast Maine. Over the years, the Baxter children grew older and were able to spend less time there, but Bill and Evelyn continued to use the camp for vacations every summer. When they eventually retired, the camp became their full-time residence during the warmer half of the year (the colder half spent in warmer climes to the south) and their many grandchildren came to enjoy summers here as their own children had, a generation earlier. Now, no longer in use as a retirement residence, and with Bill and Evelyn's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren scattered across the United States and overseas, the camp is available for others to enjoy. We hope your family likes it as much as we have for almost 60 years. How to while away the hours on the lake? Relax- put up a hammock, hang out on the cottage deck or the waterside deck, read an old book from the many on the shelves. Go for a swim. Take a paddleboat ride around the cove, or go further afield with the canoe. Take a walk or run on the road...up to the farm on the corner and back is a nice jog. Later, have a barbecue on the deck or build a fire in the stone ring. Feel like cooking? The kitchen is well-equipped. Or watch a video from the extensive collection of VHS tapes and DVDs. Our forest and lakeshore: Surprisingly, this relatively small lot contains a number of varied environments, if you look closely. Behind the cottage, there is the forest area (up to the access road) with many large pine trees and a a seasonal stream, which runs mostly in the spring or after a heavy rain. This area is largely unused and remains much as it was before the cottage was built. Around the cottage, the area has been somewhat cleared and gravel and dirt hauled in to create space for the cottage, driveway, septic system, and a mowed “lawn” area. Between the cottage and the water, the area has been cleared of some trees but many remain. Since 1971, Maine law forbids making any permanent changes to the shoreline or to an area well back from the shore, so much of this area is little changed. The higher, bushy area to the right of the path stands in contrast to the wetter grassy area to the left. These varied micro-environments are a habitat for many different birds, small animals, and amphibians. The brush piles also provide shelter for various ground-dwelling birds. The waterfront is a real wetland, a rich habitat for ducks, frogs, various water insects, turtles, and fish. The bottom is thick with mud that nourishes the many lily pads and aquatic flowers you will see growing here. This wetland extends to a shallow sand bar that runs parallel to the the shore, roughly at the distance where the jetty ends. Swimming is good on the other side of the sand bar, but not in the wetland area. Guest access Ample parking space right up by the house- The house is at the end of a long road, with only two other houses across the road for neighbors. If you have your own canoe, kayaks, or small boat, you can drive right down to the edge of the water to get it in the water. For larger boats that must be trailered into the water, there's a public boat launch off Rt. 213 (Bunker Hill Road) about 4 miles by road from the cottage, or roughly 3 miles by water on the lake. Other things to note The closest town with grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, etc. is Damariscotta: 10 miles, a 15-20 minute drive through the charming Damariscotta Mills. Jefferson village, with a post office, general store-cafe, and ice cream stand is about 7 miles away at the north end of the lake. Due to allergy issues, we are unable to accept cats at the cottage. Dogs are fine.