Stone Barn Farm: Honoring Its Natural Beauty and History—and Welcoming More People

At Mount Desert Island (MDI), where Maine Coast Heritage Trust is the local land trust, one gem that we’re proud to protect is Stone Barn Farm—one of the island’s most beloved and best-known historical landmarks. Characterized by hayfields, grazing sheep, fruiting trees and nesting birds, it is simultaneously a place of natural beauty, a gathering place, and a nod to both the past and the future. Since officially making Stone Barn Farm a preserve in 2019, MCHT has taken great strides to protect all that makes it special, while making it a welcoming and accessible place all people can enjoy. 

Located in the Emery District of Bar Harbor and built in 1907, Stone Barn Farm sits on 128 acres of fields, marshlands and woodland. Our vision was to protect its scenic value, wildlife habitat, and agricultural potential, as well as make it permanently open to the public as a preserve. The barn, made of stone as the name implies, harkens back to MDI’s deep agrarian history. Today the farm is an inspiring gathering place for art, education, enrichment and action, and an ideal setting for educational opportunities to help visitors experience healthy land and see it as the foundation for a healthy community.  

Art itself has deep-seated roots on MDI, and Stone Barn Farm is a natural focal point for that history. Artists were first drawn to MDI for its stunning beauty: its rocky shoreline, windswept pine trees and picturesque waterfronts. In the 1800s, the famous plein-air painters came from New York’s Hudson River School to paint these landscapes. Maine, and perhaps especially MDI, is a perfect place to practice this form of art today, thanks in no small part to conservation efforts that enable MDI to retain its natural beauty. On July 25 we’ll be welcoming to Stone Barn Farm the talented plein-air artist Phil Frey, known for his portrayal of Maine’s coastlines.   

The Stone Barn Farm preserve has a rich tradition of bringing people together, and MCHT wants to ensure that we have a safe, functional place where everyone will be able to gather for years to come. To that end, we’ll be investing in critical upgrades to buildings and infrastructure. This includes making the barn—already structurally sound—a more functional place for gatherings. Other improvements include building access stairs and a ramp; renovating the barn floor; installing safety measures; reinforcing and restoring the exterior structure of the Carriage House; and adding a more easily accessible trail to improve connectivity from the parking lot to the barn.  

We are actively seeking funding for the Stone Barn Farm upgrades and improvements, and our goal is to raise $195,000 by the end of 2025. If you would like to support our efforts to upgrade your Stone Barn Farm preserve, we would welcome your gift of any amount. Please mail a check to: 1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 201, Topsham, Maine 04086, or make a gift online. We also invite you to contact Hannah Whalen, director of development, at hwhalen@mcht.org or 207.244.2110. Thank you for considering a gift today!