I spent many a week in BH on a Catholic School teacher salary with my wife. A week in BH cost as much as two nights on the Cape. The billionaires are long gone. Those who are left are far outnumbered by real folks. Acadia Nat’l Park is the busiest in America and the area is emminently affordable for food and lodging.Now that I’m retired I look forward to returning to BH, but I’ll wait until Obama leaves.
There are still some billionaires in the area, and some just run-of-the-mill millionaires. But they are all “summer people.”
The oceanfront real estate in Bar Harbor is expensive; an oceanfront summer home in Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and neighboring towns will cost $1,000,000 up to $10,000,000 or more.
Martha Stewart has a home on an oceanfront hilltop in nearby Seal Harbor. The 63 acre estate was originally built for Edsel Ford, and it’s worth about $9 million. Former Senator George Mitchell has a pricey home in Seal Harbor, and the head of Fidelity Investments has a showplace here. The late Caspar Weinberger and his wife had a beautiful estate on Somes Sound in Somesville, on the other side of the island. I went to a yard sale at this estate a year ago; the Weinberger’s son had a yard sale to benefit the gardens of Acadia National Park, and he allowed it to be held at his parents $5 million home, located on the only fiord in the lower 48 states.
The New York socialite Mrs. Astor had a home in nearby Northeast Harbor. Nelsom Rockefeller was born in Bar Harbor. In fact, the Rockefellers donated 10,000 acres when Acadia National Park was first established (it was originally called Lafeyette National Park).
As you mentioned, “real folks” far outnumber the super rich in the area. Main Street in Bar Harbor consists of numerous shops and restaurants, and the busy sidewalks are jammed by middle class people from all over America, Canada and beyond. Acadia National Park is like a mini-UN in summer....I’ve seen people from all over the world in the park.
Also, the area suffered a massive, southern California-style wildfire in October, 1947. The fire destroyed about 75 Victorian era mansions....one third of the total....as well as numerous historical hotels and many businesses and public structures. Many local people boarded boats on the town wharf and fled to the sea in order to escape the fire, which was a worldwide news story at the time.