40-acre Luxury Beach Front Estate-Ideal for Reunions & Retreats

This spectacular, 40-acre estate is located on clear, warm Highland Lake in Bridgton, Maine, halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The extensive grounds provide a private, peaceful, park-like setting which fosters relaxation and engenders a sense of well-being. The property includes more than 1,000 feet of mainland waterfront with two sandy beaches, part of a small nearby island, a two-story boathouse with a 2nd floor activity center (originally the estate's ballroom), a 52-foot pier, a clay tennis court, a grass volleyball/badminton court, three large sports fields, extensive woods, wildlife, and thousands of flowering plants.

Nawandyn Estate is a unique property, more akin to a private resort than a vacation rental. In contrast to other vacation rentals, we offer a wide range of activities on site and tailor our property and to the needs and desires of each rental group. Guests may (1) choose whether they want a king or two twins in various bedrooms (perhaps an additional bed), (2) choose a preferred dining location, and (3) choose to cook for themselves, pick up food prepared by restaurants/lobster vendors/grocery stores, have meals catered and/or hire a private chef. The Owner is available to help you identify onsite and offsite activities that would appeal to individual members of your group.

We have 15 years of experience optimizing the rental experience for our guests. Prior guests have described their Nawandyn Estate experiences as “magical” and “heaven.” Reviews of Nawandyn Estate are available under VRBO listing #328745. When VRBO converted to a booking site, it limited review postings to only those groups that used VRBO's website to pay for rentals. Reviews from groups that rent directly from Nawandyn Estate have been excluded.

Nawandyn Estate has 16 bedrooms, including 4 bedrooms on the 1st floor. We tailor bedroom layouts to Renter’s wishes. If Renter wants more than 28 persons to sleep on the Estate, an “extra overnight guest fee” applies. As with any resort, a day fee applies to persons using the Estate but not paying to stay on the property.

There are multiple rooms where your entire group may dine and/or socialize together in addition to numerous large outdoor venues. Your whole group can socialize and enjoy music in the huge living room with perfect acoustics and a grand piano. One dining room seats 28 (with overflow seating on the adjacent screened porch). The Event Center will accommodate everyone for dining, dancing, indoor games (e.g., classic games and mini pool), watching sports on a large smart TV, conducting meetings and/or otherwise socializing. There are also many places where individuals can enjoy time alone and places for small groups to gather.

Nawandyn Estate makes available a multitude of activities on site which enable you to spend quality time with each other. Bring your swimsuit and favorite suntan lotion and let us provide beach towels, beach chairs, non-power watercraft, beach toys, fishing poles, etc. so you may kayak, paddle board, sunbathe on the swim raft, fish, float on foam mattresses, explore the lake and its islands, row a rowboat to a favorite fishing spot or throw your line off a pier, photograph wildlife, lounge on the beach, build sandcastles, play spike ball, count ducks, find frogs and turtles, etc. You can rent a power boat locally if you want to go water skiing, tubing, wake boarding, or cruising before you tie up your power boat at our 52-foot pier. When you need a break from the sun, you can play piano, ping pong, jenga, cards, chat or do puzzles in the boathouse activity center. Unlike other waterfront properties there are many activities available on land, including volleyball, badminton, tennis, softball, football, soccer, ultimate frisbee, corn hole, croquet and, nearby, golf. There are lots of opportunities on site or nearby to stroll, jog, bike (if you bring/rent one), hike or mountain climb. At Nawandyn, you can literally smell the flowers, listen to birds singing, star gaze, watch deer frolic, watch sunrises and sunsets, etc.

There are three homes on the 40-acre Nawandyn Estate property, within a few-minute walk of a beach and there is a road that abuts the largest sandy beach for those who prefer to drive. Each residence has its own yard and is visually separated from the others, primarily by trees and other landscaping. Yet, the homes are close enough to together that children will hop, skip and jump across the lawn from one home to another. The property is fully furnished including all linens, books, cooking equipment, dishes, BBQ’s, etc. The first and largest home was built for an opera superstar, Olivia Fremstad, in 1915-16. The architect was John A. Gade, who had previously worked for the firm that designed the East and West Wings of the White House, the home of U.S. Presidents. Fremstad sold her property in 1926 to Eleazer Clark, a shipping and banking magnate, and his wife who immediately doubled the acreage, and added landscaping, the spectacular two-story boathouse and delightful Carriage House. Subsequently, a clay tennis court and Guest House were added. The Guest House was designed by Caleb Hornbostel, who beat Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn to win the Museum of Modern Art’s first architectural contest. Clark’s grandson and granddaughter-in-law have recently restored and updated the property, adding among other things the Event Center, high-speed internet, A/C and heating via heat pump systems to the Guest House, Carriage House and the Event Center, and more gardens. Guests may rent the whole estate with its three residences via VRBO #328745 or half the estate either via VRBO #4864567 (Main House & Boathouse) or VRBO #4843806 (Guest House, Carriage House with Event Center).

Nawandyn Estate is within several miles of two grocery stores including Hannaford Grocery, a seafood store, a specialty wine store, a specialty food store, a Reny’s department store, a book store, a women’s clothing and accessories store, several home décor and gift stores, several antique stores, a yarn shop, a bait and tackle shop, a beauty salon, a barbershop, a chocolate shop, two ice cream parlors, two banks, two gas stations, an EV charging station, at least 13 restaurants, two bars, a pub, an art gallery (representing about 40 artists), the “Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity," a live music venue, a movie theater, a drive-in theater with two screens, a hospital, two urgent care centers, two pharmacies, an optician, and more.

VRBO now uses a defective artificial intelligence program to generate some content in its listings, resulting in false and/or misleading statements regarding distances, airports and significant local landmarks. The AI program misdirects prospective renters to airports that are NOT served by major airlines. Portland International Jetport (PWM) is the closest airport that is served by major airlines; it is just 42 miles from Nawandyn Estate (63 minutes via Routes 114 & 107). VRBO continually recategorizes details about listed properties which results in misleading information. To assure that prospective renters get correct information, Nawandyn Estate provides renters (in the Rental Agreement) with a four-page, single-spaced list of all the facilities, contents, and supplies available for renter use.

Please let us know your group’s needs and desires, favorite activities, etc. We would like the opportunity to let you know how we propose to optimize your experience at Nawandyn Estate. Please allow time for us to answer your questions and you to answer ours BEFORE you press the “request to book” button that triggers VRBO’s 24-hour countdown to a deduction from your credit card and requires us to make a booking decision.

In order to finalize a booking, you must fill in the blanks on our Rental Agreement that identify you, the size of your rental group, your rental purpose, all the potential members of your group (specifying the ages of children and any members that have mobility/health issues that need to be accommodated), sign both the Rental Agreement on page 10 and the “house rules” and liability lease form, and send it to the property Owners.