A cluster of charming businesses have bolstered the towns’ dreamy ideal since the ‘70s but this season a new tide of restaurants, shopping, and hotels will hit.
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“I started investing in real estate in my early 20s,” he says. “I’m a serial renovator.”
A house in Kennebunkport fell into his hands when its owner wanted to swap for a Massachusetts condo Harrington was renovating. The developer and his family started using the house and promptly fell in love with the coastal town, where he took on additional projects.
In 2005, he bought a run-down property called Cottages at Cabot Cove, not far from an assortment of marinas on Kennebunk River. In keeping with the creative flair that drives his endeavors, Harrington hired interior designers to individually decorate each cottage. The opening, a design showcase and fundraiser, drew 5,000 people in 10 days.
A $25 million purchase and renovation of four neighboring Kennebunkport inns, once the homes of prominent local sea captains, will culminate this spring in a rebranding, forming the Kennebunkport Captains Collection resort.
The properties, owned by Newburyport, Mass.-based Lark Hotels, comprise the William Jefferds House, James Fairfield House, Nathaniel Lord Mansion and Acton Patterson House.
The structures date back to the early-19th century and were built by sea captains, all of whom were part of the Walker family, one of the first families to settle in the area.
After passing through generations of seafaring families, all four houses eventually transitioned to small boutique inns.