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Bruce Price

Bruce Price is an elegant tribute to the famous architect who designed Cleftstone Manor. A perfect blend of history and modern convenience, Bruce Price has an electric fireplace and walk-in shower. Look out through the diamond-paned windows, where one hundred years ago guests gazed out at Bar Harbor’s Golden Age.

dot Second floor
dot King bed/sofa
dot Walk-in shower
dot Large flat panel TV
dot DVD player
dot Electric fireplace

Bruce Price

Bruce Price (?–1909) was a well-known New York architect who designed Cleftstone. His other credits in Bar Harbor include The Turrets, Casa Far Niente, and the West End Hotel. Outside the of the United States, Price also designed the Chateau Frontenac Hotel in Quebec. Of Price’s work in this area, only Cleftstone and The Turrets remain. The Turrets currently houses a museum on the College of the Atlantic campus and is open to the public.

Bar Harbor was a lively place for architects in the late 1800s. Although many architectural firms designed cottages here, Bruce Price, William Ralph Emerson, Rotch and Tilden of Boston, and Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul of New York dominated the field. As the mansion era evolved, the so-called cottages became larger and more ornate. Building materials also diversified with more cottages of brick and stone being built in later years. Nonetheless, the large, rambling shingle style cottage with many gables, dormers, and turrets was typical of the era.

On a minor note, Price was also the father of etiquette expert Emily Post.

The Bruce Price room is located in the former servants’ quarters and includes the old trunk storage room. Trunk storage space was quite important as the wealthy summer residents spent the entire summer in Bar Harbor, bringing with them large amounts of clothing and household goods. The cottagers’ trunks usually arrived by steamer about a week before their owners, prompting the newspaper to report the impending arrivals of the socialites.