Thuya Garden, Northeast Harbor Maine

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Thuya Garden

In Thuya Garden, a rusticator’s hideaway, is preserved the beauty and floral treasures of a story book-English style garden, as part of the Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve. It is an essential place to visit for those who seek a peaceful interlude with serenity and romance from a bygone era.

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  • Thuya Garden, Thuya Lodge, Asticou Terraces, and Asticou Landing are all part of this preserved treasure.
  • Admission for all areas is free. Donations are welcome.
  • The Garden is open every day from the end of June until September from 7am to 7pm
  • The trails may be accessed all year, weather permitting
  • Thuya Lodge is open every day from 10am to 4:30pm, from the end of June to Labor Day
  • Pets are not allowed in the Gardens and must be leashed on trails

Thuya Lodge

Thuya Lodge was constructed for Joseph H. Curtis, a landscape architect, in Northeast Harbor Maine. Thuya referenced the Thuya occidentalis, or Northern White Cedar of the area. The lodge was built at a time when many wealthy individuals sought a connection with nature, and the wilderness. Thuya was intended as a place of refuge, and recluse for Curtis. An example of this is the Terrace Trail which runs from the eastern shore of Northeast Harbor up to Thuya Lodge. This location makes accessible, Elliot Mountain, and trails leading to and from Jordan Pond, and Harbor Brook. Mr. Curtis died in 1928, and his 140 acre property, through his trust, was gifted to the residents of Mount Desert. These preserved properties include Thuya Garden, Thuya Lodge, Asticou Terraces, and Asticou Landing.

Thuya Garden

In 1956 Mr. Charles Savage a landscape designer, and trustee, constructed upon the site of Mr. Curtis’s orchard Thuya Garden’s. His passion is demonstrated through his creation of a library of horticultural and botanical books in Thuya Lodge. Escaping the formalities of society; the English bordering flower beds, transition gracefully into the wooded forests of Maine. The surrounding aspiring rugged wilderness captivates, while the cultivated gentle pleasantries of civilization soothe ones thoughts, all overlooking majestically the waters of Northeast Harbor. These tributes sought after by the original benefactor continue to this day as the herbaceous plantings, some being the acquired descendants from the 1956 dismantling of Beatrix Farrand’s, Reef Point estate formerly located in Bar Harbor. Beatrix Ferrand interpreted the work of Gertrude Jekyll, a famous garden designer and author of England of that time period.

Hours, Days and Information

The Thuya Garden is open every day from the end of June until September from 7am to 7pm. The trail and gardens may be accessed throughout the year, weather permitting. The Thuya Lodge is open every day from 10am to 4:30pm, from the end of June to Labor Day. Admission is free. Parking is limited so carpooling is encouraged, or the use of alternative transportation. Pets are not allowed in the gardens, and are only allowed on the Asticou Terrace Trails while on a leash. Narrated tours of the gardens are available for small groups of up to 15 people with a recommended donation of $5.00 per person. If interested, advanced notification is required. Thuya Garden is handicap accessible from the upper parking lot at the top of Thuya Drive. The Asticou Terrace Trails are not handicap accessible.

Directions

Thuya Garden is located on Peabody Drive(State Route Three), in the village of Northeast Harbor, on Mount Desert Island. Thuya Drive off from Peabody Drive, State Route Three can be used to access Thuya Garden and Lodge for those who do not wish to hike the Asticou Terrace Trail. Thuya Garden can be reserved in the off season for ceremonies on a limited basis. The gardens do not afford accommodations for picnics, food, or drink. Do to the fragile ecology of the area all hiking is limited to the designated trails only.