Bywoode Guest House
One of the pleasures of walking through Ocean Park is discovering the many boarding houses and guest cottages that have quietly welcomed summer visitors for generations. Among them is the Bywoode, a handsome Victorian-era guest house whose broad porches and generous size reflect a time when families often spent weeks, or even the entire summer, living by the sea.
From the very beginning, Ocean Park was intended to be more than a weekend destination. When the Ocean Park Association received its charter from the State of Maine in 1881, its founders envisioned a community where visitors would come for an extended season of worship, education, music, recreation, and fellowship. As the community grew, cottages alone could not accommodate everyone who wished to spend the summer here. Boarding houses such as the Bywoode became an essential part of Ocean Park, offering comfortable accommodations within easy walking distance of the Temple, Porter Memorial Hall, the beach, and the village center.
Unlike the grand resort hotels found elsewhere along the Maine coast, Ocean Park’s guest houses reflected the character of the community itself. They were welcoming rather than extravagant, encouraging neighbors to gather on wide porches, share meals, and become part of the life of the village. Many families returned to the same house year after year, forming friendships that lasted for generations.
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Ataloa Cabins
Walking through Ocean Park, it is easy to see that not every visitor stayed in one of the grand boarding houses or hotels. Tucked beneath the tall pines are clusters of modest seasonal cabins like the Ataloa Cabins, reminders that Ocean Park was designed to be a place where families of many backgrounds could enjoy […]
Porter Memorial Hall
Walking through Ocean Park, it quickly becomes apparent that this is more than a collection of summer cottages. From its earliest days, the founders envisioned a community where faith, education, music, and fellowship would enrich everyday life. While the Way of Truth Temple became the spiritual heart of Ocean Park, Porter Memorial Hall became one […]
A Chautauqua Community
For many visitors, the word Chautauqua is unfamiliar, yet it explains almost everything that makes Ocean Park unique. The Chautauqua movement began in 1874 on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in western New York. Originally created as a summer training program for Sunday school teachers, it quickly grew into one of the most influential educational and cultural […]
