Cottage luxe

S’more than the ordinary at Hidden Pond

July 17, 2011|By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine - It takes a certain skill to perfectly toast a marshmallow, which must be impaled exactly in the center with a long stick. You need to position the marshmallow just right over a bank of coals and rotate the stick constantly so the marshmallow turns toasty brown on all sides. When it’s evenly cooked and soft in the middle, you must transfer it swiftly to the graham crackers and chocolate square, squeezing to make a perfect s’more.

That’s one of the simple pleasures of summer that we rediscovered at Hidden Pond, a designer take on the classic Maine woods getaway, located on a country road a mile and half inland from Kennebunkport’s Goose Rocks Beach. Cheerful young staff members build a bonfire every night, keep a supply of sharp sticks and s’more fixings on hand, and act as upbeat camp counselors assuring guests that everyone drops oozing marshmallows onto the stones lining the fire pit. Sated with marshmallow and chocolate - and with the sticky fingers to prove it - we called it a night and headed down the tree-lined dirt road to our bungalow.

Hidden Pond opened in 2008 with 14 two-bedroom cottages, combining the pleasures (and privacy) of a cottage community with the amenities of a good hotel and a small resort. With ample staff to sweat the details, guests need concentrate only on relaxing. Indeed, a sign at the entrance reminded us to drive slowly and breathe deeply. This spring, Hidden Pond expanded on its 60-acre site by adding 20 bungalow (i.e., studio) cottages without kitchens, along with spa facilities on stilts in the treetops, and a locavore restaurant, Earth, created by Boston superchef and restaurant mogul Ken Oringer.

It was early June when we stayed in one of those bungalows. Clad in gray-painted shingles with white shutters and a flower box on the front-facing window, the build ing evokes the New England cabin aesthetic, though it felt a little like a subdivision to us because left-handed and right-handed versions of the same structure alternate along the cul-de-sac.

But our bungalow offered a whole lot more than a typical resort hotel room. Not only was it spacious (a sensation amplified by the cathedral ceiling in the main room), it was all ours and the neighbors were invisible. One end of the living area featured a wet bar and a large soft couch facing the massive stone fireplace with gas logs. (We could not complain that the weather was too sultry to light the fire.) The other half of the room was devoted to a king-size bed with wall-mounted padded headboard and a flat-screen TV on a swinging arm. The bathroom was open and bright, featuring a gray-streaked white marble counter and a white-glazed farmhouse sink.

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