Last week Pablo and I took a quick trip to Maine for a belated 10-year anniversary celebration. We stayed at the beautiful Tides Beach Club on Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport. The inn recently underwent a huge renovation, turning it into a charmingly modern interpretation of “beach chic” that still stays very close to its laid-back Maine roots.
The beautiful porch out front was always full of people (sipping coffee in the morning and cocktails in the afternoon) so I could never get a shot of it empty. Here’s a great picture from the Tides website. The chairs were so big and deep that I had to pull my feet up into them. I could barely reach the ground!
We never learned to play backgammon but that didn’t stop me from falling in love with this navy lacquered game table and white slipcovered chairs.
A bookshelf offered beautiful coffee table books to peruse while you sit under a rope wrapped chandelier. And how about those chairs? They’re like luxe cushioned director’s chairs. Love!
I fell in love with a pair of these oyster lamps and almost considered grabbing a similar one when I spotted it in Antiques on Nine, a Kennebunk shop. But then I saw the $795 price tag. No thank you.
I was absolutely smitten with these thick crystal lamps. Clearly, good lighting makes me weak in the knees! I also loved the weathered chest though I wish there wasn’t another one just like it nearby. (The repetition made the weathering look obviously fake. Know what I mean?)
There was classic wainscoting everywhere – on the ceilings, up the stairs….
The restaurant side of the main floor was sleek and modern but still totally beachy. (And yes, I’ll be giving you a closer look at those lucite stools in just a moment. Please try and be patient!)
I can’t believe it took me 2 days to notice my beloved Hicks Pendants hanging in the porch section of the restaurant. (We have the bronze/antique brass version in our kitchen. I think theirs were the polished nickel. And MUCH bigger than our little one!) They’re gorgeous in any size or color!
I wonder if this doorway detail was original or if it was found in an architectural salvage place. Either way, it was a beaut!
I kept rubbing my hands over the divine carrera marble bar top but the bartender told me it’s a bitch to keep neat. It’s so porous that every drink ring remains and don’t even think about getting any citrus near it! He showed me a bleached out spot that a lemon wedge left behind. They had to have it completely sanded and refinished within a year of getting it. I’m still in love with carrera marble (have been ever since we got these tiles in our bathroom) but I think I can give up my dream of having it as a kitchen counter. High maintenance and I are not friends!
Even the drinks are pretty at Tides. I can assure you that my Blueberry Fizz was as delicious as it looks!
Let’s take a moment to talk about those gorgeous lucite stools! I seriously would have tried to slip one into my clutch if they weren’t so heavy. (Only a woman drinking too many Blueberry Fizz’s would think she could sneak out with a stool!) But seriously they were absolutely beautiful and the visual break allowed for you to see all the way to the tufted bar. It was all truly a work of art.
Speaking of art, check out the photos from a Kennebunkport photographer that were hanging in the restaurant. It’s dogs hanging out of car windows! Aren’t they so sweet? The photographer is Christopher Becker and the collection is perfectly titled Canine Bliss.
While the doggies hung in the restaurant, the hallways of the hotel with filled with matching frames hung in a perfectly haphazard “pattern”. What was in the frames you ask? Random stuff. Personal family pics (whose family? I don’t know!), interesting modern art prints, fashion magazine pages (bedazzled with glitter glue!), and even some vintage images. I love the way it looked (it kinda reminded me of John and Sherry’s hallway) and it inspired me to finally hang something in our lackluster hall. Hopefully, I’ll be getting on that project soon!
I hope you enjoyed the tour of Tides Beach Club. Tomorrow, you get to see our charming, cozy (ie: small) room complete with resources to create a Tides-style room of your own. See you then!
Did you take any fun summer vacations? Do tell!
XO
Sue at Home
Sue At Home 
