If you’re looking to explore Acadia National Park, Blue Hill Peninsula, and Downeast Maine, and prefer the sounds, sites and scents of nature— if you enjoy your privacy and your idea of vacation is exploring the beauty and natural wonders of this very special area— and then returning to a darling retreat house that overlooks sparkling water-filled quarries that host beautiful sunrises and sunsets each day and the most amazing cloud formations with heavenly shades of blue…You’ve found your way to the right place.
Is this heaven?, you might ask…No— this is where heaven touches earth, Light Heart Retreat.
The Blackberry Cottage is a cheery, darling retreat house built with writers, nature lovers, singles and couples in mind. It’s a simple design with open concept kitchen/dining and living room area. There’s one bedroom with a queen size bed and the bathroom has a full size shower. The cottage is heated by a propane stove so guests can be toasty in the cooler tempts of Spring, ealry Summer and Fall. The cottage is fully equipped for cooking your own meals and has the basic food stuffs needed to get you started. Linens and towels are provided, as is Wi-Fi during the vacation rental season.
The Blackberry Cottage has a wealth of outdoor siting options including a south facing patio at the entrance, a natural granite patio facing east overlooking the causeway and the large quarry. The fire pit is located on an extension of this patio, not far from your backdoor.
This is not the owner’s summer cottage. It was designed and built for you. The owner, Joanna Pinney Buell lives on the north side of the quarry. There is a second cottage, Huckleberry Hideaway, that hosts up to 4…people like yourself, looking for quiet, wanting something different than the lake or downtown Bar Harbor experience…Each of the three houses are private to one another. All guests are welcome to use the library, the sauna, swim at either of the quarries and walk the wooded trails. There’s the most wonderful bench at the standing stone circle to listen to the hermit thrush and watch sunsets from. Also there’s a dolman…a most interesting place to meditate in!
Light Heart Retreat is at the end of a dirt road, 2 miles off Route 1 north in Sullivan. The entrance has a cable across it to protect privacy. Guests are screened for a good match. Light Heart Retreat has its own site with additional photos, slide shows, blog and information about area attractions. Owner is delighted to answer your questions and concerns and has compiled an excellent guide for guests with day trips and recommendations for eating, renting bikes, kayaking, etc.
Long term stays may be available outside of June - mid October. Please contact Joanna if your area traveling professional looking for short-term affordaIf you’re looking to explore Acadia National Park, Blue Hill Peninsula, and Downeast Maine, and prefer the sounds, sites and scents of nature— if you enjoy your privacy and your idea of vacation is exploring the beauty and natural wonders of this very special area— and then returning to a cozy retreat house that overlooks sparkling water-filled quarries that host beautiful sunrises and sunsets each day and the most amazing cloud formations with heavenly shades of blue…You’ve found your way to the right place.
“Is this heaven?”, you might ask…No— this is where heaven touches earth, Light Heart Retreat.
The Blackberry Cottage is a cheery, petite retreat house built with writers, nature lovers, singles and couples in mind. It’s a simple design with open concept kitchen/dining and living room area. There’s one bedroom with a queen size bed and the bathroom has a full size shower. The cottage is heated by a propane stove so guests can be toasty in the cooler tempts of Spring, ealry Summer and Fall. The cottage is fully equipped for cooking your own meals and has the basic food stuffs needed to get you started. Linens and towels are provided, as is Wi-Fi during the vacation rental season.
The Blackberry Cottage has a wealth of outdoor sitting options including a south facing patio at the entrance, a natural granite patio facing east overlooking the causeway and the large quarry. The fire pit is located on an extension of this patio, not far from your backdoor.
This is not the owner’s summer cottage. It was designed and built for you. The owner, Joanna Pinney Buell lives on the north side of the quarry. There is a second cottage, Huckleberry Hideaway, that hosts up to 4… who are people like yourself, looking for quiet, wanting something different than the lake or downtown Bar Harbor experience…Each of the three houses are private to one another. All guests are welcome to use the library, the sauna, swim at either of the quarries and walk the wooded trails. There’s the most wonderful bench at the standing stone circle to listen to the hermit thrush and watch sunsets from. Also there’s there’s the dolman…a most interesting place to meditate in!
Light Heart Retreat is at the end of a dirt road, 2 miles off Route 1 north in Sullivan. The entrance has a cable across it to protect privacy. Guests are screened for a good match. Light Heart Retreat has its own site with additional photos, slide shows, blog and information about area attractions. Owner is delighted to answer your questions and concerns and has compiled an excellent guide for guests with day trips and recommendations for eating, renting bikes, kayaking, etc.
Light Heart Retreat has been welcoming guests to special place on the planet since 2003. Many of those guests have felt they were called to be here. Some have said that finding Light Heart Retreat was the answer to a prayer.
Whether you feel called or not, I guarantee you’ll experience a peace and beauty here that is unique.
This is a new listing on Connecting Rentals Worldwide. I've posted some reviews from our previous advertiser and a sampling from our guest book going back several years. You can also see some guest comments and reviews on the Light Heart Retreat site, as well as additional videos.
Nearest Airport | Bangor International Airport | 45 miles |
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Nearest Bar | Finn's Irish Pub | 14 miles |
Nearest Beach | Lamoine | 16 miles |
Nearest Golf | Bar Harbor Golf Course | 20 miles |
Nearest Restaurant | Chester Pike's Galley | 8 miles |
Please print these out now and put in your glove compartment or send to your cell phone. GPS and internet directions have been known to err--not good if you’re arriving on a foggy evening. Use 130 Whales Back, Sullivan, Maine 04664 (my address) for on line map or GPS.
Directions to Light Heart Retreat, Sullivan, Maine from NH/Maine line Rte.95.
Go 95 N, take exit 44 through Portland (295 N, comes back out on 95 N). Less toll, less time, much more interesting. (Take any Freeport exit to get to LL Beans).
20 minute drive from Ellsworth in Sullivan, Maine
Wooded, rural area. Blackberry Cottage is located at Light Heart Retreat with owner's dwelling and one other retreat house.
Rate Period | Nightly | Weekly | Monthly | Seasonal | |||
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Weekday | Weekend | ||||||
Rate periods unavailable. Questions? Send Inquiry |
Other Charge Type | Price | Charge Type | |
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Cleaning Fee | Mandatory | $100 | One time |
We are departing the Blackberry Cottage with energy and joy. The Retreat was exactly the place; with its majestic granite, still waters and sweet-smelling air, to unwind and forget about the rushing, bustling city. Although we did not get to spend much time with you; we have a sense of the people you are and understand why this Retreat has given us the opportunity to reconnect with nature and find serenity. We look forward to coming back someday soon. A lake is the landscapes most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye, looking into which the beholder measures the depth of this own nature. Thoreau. Until next time, thank you. ~ Pericle and Emily, NY
Thank you for sharing a piece of your heart with us. We enjoyed every second of our stay at BBC and it is most certainly a blessings to enjoy such tranquility at Light Heart Retreat. I am humbled by the surroundings of this breathtaking place. It definitely helped me regroup, rejuvenate and rejoice in the place I have in this world and my capacity. Thank you for all that you both do and continue to create at Light Heart Retreat. We are definitely the lucky ones to have discovered this relaxing retreat and to have met you both! Blessings to you for the journey ahead. So glad to have crossed paths with you. We will be back. ~ Razia and Ahmad, NY
What a beautiful and relaxing place, we loved staying at the Blackberry Cottage! Swimming in the quarry's was fantastic, only thing better was to combine it with the sauna. Watching the sunset from the standing stone circle was our favorite way to end the day, a camp fire was the perfect ending to the night. Joanna and David were perfect hosts...Thank you! John & Alyona
About 2 years ago I took a job at a startup. The hours were long, the pace frenetic, but the mission was amazing; truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. After that opportunity concluded, I resolved to find a peaceful spot in Maine to recharge my battery and reconnect to myself in between jobs; which is how I ended up on Joanna and David's doorstep one Sunday for a weeklong stay at the Blackberry cabin. There are many things to commend the cabin, and the retreat more broadly to you if you are seeking peace. Joanna and David provide fabulous hospitality (they delivered fresh vegetables from the garden to us several times). The retreat location is essentially equidistant from Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor; having spent a week previously in Bar and Northwest Harbor I was astonished at how remote and gorgeous Winter Harbor is on a long run. the Retreat itself is fantastic - there are plenty of fun things to do right there, be it swimming in the quarry on summer morning, canoeing in the quarry, enjoying the amazing wood fire sauna, or standing in the stone garden. To my mind, the retreat is the ideal place to go if you want to be close to Bar Harbor but not TOO close; it affords you the option to explore more remote, less bustling (and commercialized) parts of Maine while also allowing for you to go nowhere at all. I would be remiss if I didn't note that David and Joanna have gone out of their way to shape the natural beauty of the area to foster a harmonious space. David in particular seems to have a deep affinity for stone that I've not encountered anywhere else. If natural beauty is what resonates with you, I'd encourage you to consider a stay here. ~ Dave U., D.C.
My husband and I arrived at the Light Heart Retreat exhausted. With aging parents, and children just starting off on their own, this was our first vacation without family since, well it seems like forever! I mention this because you should know that our expectations and hopes for this getaway together were very high, possibly unfairly so. And, WHOA!! The Light Heart Retreat and Joanna's loving care went far beyond our hopes and dreams for a restorative, restful, and relaxing week away. We arrived with no difficulty, thanks to Joanna's superb directions, and the Huckleberry Hideaway was prepared and waiting for us. Joanna gave us some time to get unpacked and arrived to show us exactly how to use the hot tub (Ahhhhh...) and the wood stove (mmmm...), and give us a general lay of the land. I'll admit that I half-suspected she may have made the rain stop and done her magic to keep the remainder of our stay sunny and 75-80 degrees, despite the forecast for a week of chilly and grey weather! As other reviewers have noted, the cottage was exactly as described. There was nothing that wasn't available just as expected. The property was clean and everything functioned perfectly. A few steps beyond our cottage was a stunning quarry with lilies in bloom, chairs to watch the water, and a fire pit. Beyond that we found the library housed in a small cabin filled with everything from novels to books on meditation, healing, gardening, and all manner of peaceful pursuits. We didn't try the sauna or the canoe on this visit but I'm confident we will next time! There is also a very private quarry on the property that is amazing and even has a screened meditation hut to keep out the bugs! It was delightful. Don't let the "distance" from Acadia and the more populated areas dissuade you from staying at the Light Heart Retreat! Joanna showed us a short cut that allowed us to make the trip to Bar Harbor in 30 minutes. We visited restaurants there and in Ellsworth without any trouble or any traffic. We also spent four days out of our week hiking the trails in Acadia and after some very strenuous climbing and hikes, there was nothing better than coming "home" to our personal hot tub and the quiet of staying off the beaten path. Joanna, thank you! You were a gracious hostess and made us feel so welcome. We can't wait to see you again next year! Warmest wishes, Sarah & Brian
We arrived at Blackberry Cottage exhausted and sleep-deprived (after selling our home and in the process of moving to a new city). Joanna, lovely soul that she is, received us with abundant hospitality and made sure we had everything we needed. The cottage overlooks two quarry ponds and is a perfect spot to relax and renew; we spent a week there and would gladly have spent another. Swimming, hiking, blackberry picking in the area, biking around the Schoodic Peninsula and visiting the Schoodic Environmental Research Center, driving over to Acadia and then coming home to a quiet retreat spot -- what could be better? ~Sue W.
We arrived at Blackberry Cottage exhausted and sleep-deprived (after selling our home and in the process of moving to a new city). Joanna, lovely soul that she is, received us with abundant hospitality and made sure we had everything we needed. The cottage overlooks two quarry ponds and is a perfect spot to relax and renew; we spent a week there and would gladly have spent another. Swimming, hiking, blackberry picking in the area, biking around the Schoodic Peninsula and visiting the Schoodic Environmental Research Center, driving over to Acadia and then coming home to a quiet retreat spot -- what could be better? ~Sue W.
If you love quiet walks, reading by the water in an Adirondack chair, or swimming in crystal clear quarry - this is the right place for you. My wife and I rented the Blackberry cottage the first week of July, 2016. We arrived exhausted after changing jobs and selling our house, but the peace and beauty of this place gradually did its work and we emerged renewed and happy. This place has a magical feeling with granite sculptures scattered around the quarry and a stone circle reminiscent of Stonehenge. Ask for directions to the meditation hut overlooking the second quarry. The cottage is cozy and comfortable with everything you need for cooking. The owner, Joanna, is a lovely soul who greeted us our first night with her homemade banana bread. She is very helpful with directions to restaurants, hikes, and stores. We enjoyed swimming in Donnell Pond and hiking up the nearby Black Mountain which has views as good as Acadia National Park without the crowds. But, if you want to hike in Acadia, it's just a 40 minute drive. ~Rand W.
My wife and I rented the Blackberry Cottage for one week and had a very relaxing time away from our hectic city life. We enjoyed walking through the forest, swimming in the quarries or just sunbathing on the granite terrace in front of our cottage. We did venture into the beautiful surrounding areas several times, but couldn't wait to return to the retreat every time. Joanna is a wonderful host and the cottage is perfect for a couple in need of recharging their batteries and re-connecting with nature. ~Bogdan B., New York
The cottage was everything that Joanna advertised and more. She provided us with a nice treat upon arrival and even went out of her way to make a gluten free treat for my wife. Very classy. The property is nestled in the woods just off a spur road and is very quiet. The cottage is right off the quarry where the morning reflections were wonderful. The cottage was clean and the bed was very comfortable. The kitchen is well stocked with the necessary items to cook meals and relax. I would highly recommend this property for two people wanting a nice getaway. It is located near both Schoodic as well as Acadia NP. The drive to both places is picturesque and easy. Thank you Joanna for a wonderful experience. ~Jim S., New Mexico.