Coastal comforts

The inn offers plenty of places to contemplate the water. Dick and Anne Moseley bought the 1761 house seven years ago; they lived across the street for 38 years. She was raised here and had her eye on it. The two are gregarious, she more so than he. The inn had been a cookhouse when ship building was a thriving industry, then a boarding house, which is when Anne first went inside as a little girl. “We summered in our own house across the street,’’ she says, “and we took our meals here.’’ She remembers cookie and doughnut jars in the kitchen; the couple continues that hospitality.

Members of a car group meet here annually, as do cyclists, knitters, weavers, and quilters. An inviting sitting room is like an old shoe, with an oversized stone fireplace, chairs that you sink into, a grand piano, big stacks of board games, and two puzzle tables. There are nine rooms — only one where you cannot see the bay, except from the bathroom — three suites, four cottages, and a 50-seat function room.

Our high bed comes with a footstool. The room has a loveseat, framed artwork to match the yellow and blue wallpaper, and a large bathroom with a dark Burgundy tub and separate shower. It’s the kind of comfortable place you might have stayed in if your grandmother owned a nice house.

Dick Moseley was a vocational cooking teacher in Brunswick for 22 years. Anne ran Auburn Colony in Harpswell for 20 years, a private summer resort started in 1886 by Auburn textile factory owners, who arrived via Portland and a steamer at South Harpswell.