A Front-Row Seat for North Haven’s Summer Spectacle

There’s nothing like summer on North Haven. July blue skies with puffy clouds, sparkling clear waters, berry-picking, clambakes, bonfires on the beach, sailboats and sea kayaks, lobstermen hauling traps, kids jumping off the docks and taking their rowboats out to catch a crab at the end of a drop line. The ice cream shop in the village center does a booming business with its homemade ice creams. Overlooking the ferry landing, the Waterman’s Community Center hosts movies and local plays, and townspeople catch up over a cup of coffee in their café, town’s coffee shop with Wi-Fi. The local grocery sells produce and cheese from the island’s organic farm and educational center, the Turner Farm, which also supplies the Nebo Lodge, the island’s inn and restaurant.

The heart of all this summer fun is the village center on the Fox Islands Thorofare, the sheltered channel separating the islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven. With its sheltered anchorage, scenic beauty, and central location in Penobscot Bay, the Thorofare is a popular destination with yachtsmen from all over the world.

The historic wharf houses that line the Thorofare overlook North Haven’s harbor and have a front row seat for all this activity. Most of these buildings were originally commercial buildings; some have been converted to residences. One of these is the Minot Wharf House, located right on the docks that form North Haven’s yacht club, the “Casino.” Originally a distribution center for cargo coming off ships in the 1800s, the buildings were long ago converted to residences. Owned by one family for generations, today the property includes 10 bedrooms in three distinct (but connected) sections. It’s perfectly suitable as it is, or it could easily be combined to create a more traditional single-family residence with guest quarters. The views of the harbor and all its activity are spectacular, and the interior is charming, with traditional beadboard paneling and fir floors as well as unusual Japanese-style wood carvings done in the late 1800s.