Cygnet Gallery

We started Cygnet Gallery years ago in Bar Harbor when Dennis Rafferty was looking for a gallery to show in. It was really beautiful and Heidi Stanton-Drew took it and ran with it.

We had an opportunity to lease out the building that housed the gallery in Bar Harbor and couldn't turn it down. The gallery is a labor of love, not income. :-)

Then, in 2006 when I was working on creating my beautiful loft on Congress Street in Portland (see May 2008 issue of Maine Home + Design Magazine :) we had an opportunity to rent a space on Oak Street in Portland. We were there for about two years when Dennis and I decided that if Cygnet was to have a future, we'd have to be on Congress Street. We also added a gallery component to the Brunswick Inn on Park Row and our Blue Hill Swan office shares space with the gallery AND Northeast Harbor has an outpost.

Dennis is now ensconced in a sensational space at 568 Congress, across from 555 Restaurant right near the art museum.

Another Inn

The Brunswick Inn on Park Row is literally right on Park Row looking over the town green, there is skating there now and farmer's markets and concerts in the summer. Bill and Karen McFarland and I - in our partnership, McFarland Swan Holdings - bought this inn in January of 2007 after we had sold the Ocean Gate Inn in Boothbay Harbor. (I bought the Range Rover after that sale too, we did well :-)

While I can't take the credit for the design of Pomegranate Inn, I can for Brunswick :-) We kept the inn closed the first month that we owned it and completely redid the main house. Margot Curtis had just finished up another job and was in transition so she came on board to manage the inn for the "get it up and going" period and we had a blast redoing it.

It is a really fantastic place. Barbara Brown is the innkeeper. She and her daughter live at the inn and it is also their home which is so great. The Bowdoin College proximity and the wonderful guests that we welcome affilated with the College make every day unique and special. Barbara has added another component to the inn hosting luncheons and happy hours. And the future is bright. More on that later.

Smuggler's Cove Inn in Boothbay Harbor

Smuggler's is another McFarland Swan Holdings property. We ran it along with Ocean Gate but didn't have great luck with management from far away. It is for sale and a fantastic property with a sandy beach, dock, moorings - an idyllic Maine escape.

And More Inns

In the spring of 2008 an opportunity came up with the West End Inn, down the block from Pomegranate. We made an agreement to lease the inn for two years, combine it with Pomegranate for overflow, and buy at the the end of the two years. Wellllll,,, best laid plans. For many reasons it didn't work out. When a long time Pomegranate guest told us that the "peace and privelege" of Pomegranate is missing with the combination of both inn guests at one inn for breakfast - that was the last straw. I was also worried about how it was going to work with the WEI guests leaving the inn during bad weather. Of course, in the meantime, we totally redesigned the common area and three of the guest rooms. BUT! things always work out. My friend since 3rd grade, Beth Oliver was recovering from a high, high profile corporate position in advertising and thought she'd like to own an inn. PERFECT opportunity for both of us, she is trying out the business and I know that WEI is in great hands.

The Inns

These posts are in no particular order but the next to talk about is the beautiful Pomegranate Inn. On the left are great shots that photographer Kevin Keith took of the stairways and foyer at the inn.

I bought the Pomegranate in October of 2007. We had a truly amazing 2008 and 2009 just keeps going up, up and up. Luckily, this one of my businesses is ignoring the bad economy.

Leslie Gregoire is the innkeeper/manager/and just extraordinary person at the Inn. She does an amazing job with the inn and most importantly the guests.

The Pomegranate has eight gorgeous guestrooms and is located on Neal Street in the West End of Portland, Maine. Fantastic neighborhood in this city by the bay.

So many reasons to blog..... mine? because everyone says that they can't keep up with what I am doing and I get bored explaining... bored with myself, not them. I remember talking with a counselor one time, shortly after my divorce, and wondering if she was as bored with what I was talking about as I was....

So the first thing to talk about is The Swan Agency Sotheby's International Realty. We had a great 2008 considering the awful economy. The Bar Harbor office did exceptionally well.

We have three offices now, Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Blue Hill.