Two Down East businesses earn Yankee Editors’ Choice designation

EASTPORT – When it opened for business four years ago, it set the standard for selling quality artisans’ works in this seaside community. Last week The Commons was recognized as a 2008 Editors’ Choice in Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England.

Also named was Harbor House bed and breakfast on Sawyer Cove in Jonesport.

The magazine will be on newsstands through the end of August. This year’s choices will also appear on Yankee Magazine’s Web site throughout 2008.

The Editors’ Choice recommendation designates Yankee editors’ and writers’ favorite restaurants, lodgings and attractions across New England.

“First and foremost, this brick building is a destination gallery, filled with the selected works of more than 70 area artisans,” the designation for The Commons said. “Highlights include Passamaquoddy sweet-grass and porcupine-quill baskets, bird carvings, burl bowls, jewelry, watercolors and prints, and imaginative work in tin, pewter, wood, shell, bronze and fabric.”

Linda Godfrey, who owns the business along with Meg McGarvey, Nancy Asante and Suzanne Crawford, said Monday that they were pleased with the recognition by the magazine.

“We applaud the artisans represented at The Commons, for it is their combined work that has brought this honor to The Commons, Eastport, Washington County and Maine,” she said.

The women met several years ago through the Washington County Leadership Institute, where Godfrey teaches. “We just kept exchanging our visions and our hopes for this area, and they converged,” she added.

Since The Commons opened, a lot has happened in Eastport. Now the downtown is a hub of artists’ and artisan shops. “We are seeing that more and more people appreciate that [Eastport] is a place that has an historic downtown, a working waterfront and a deep artisan tradition,” Godfrey said.

The owners of Harbor House, Maureen and Gene Hart, a retired registered nurse and electronics engineer, moved from New York to Maine in 1997 and opened their bed and breakfast, renovating the historic Charles Henry Mansfield building on the Marina in Jonesport.

“It was a wow moment,” Gene Hart said when the couple learned of the Yankee Magazine designation.

“We try hard to make the bed and breakfast very homey for people, and we were happy it was acknowledged,” Maureen Hart added.

Since their opening 10 years ago, the couple has served more than 3,000 guests from across the United States and Canada, and from five continents.

Because they vacationed in the area for many years before deciding to move, the Harts have discovered many hidden spots and wonderful finds. Unlike well-known tourist destinations, where all the attractions are well-advertised, Down East is different. The Harts enjoy introducing visitors to all that Down East has to offer, and the Harbor House location is an ideal base for exploring the area, The Editors’ Choice designation for the bed and breakfast said.

The Commons is open year-round, with daily hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For information. go to www.thecommon

seastport.com.

The Harbor House Web site is www.harborhs.com. The B&B is open year-round.

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