Camden
The Norumbega
Telegraph inventor Joseph B. Stearns's 1886 stone house above Penobscot Bay, an inn since 1984 and now an 11-room boutique hotel.
- Built
- 1886Completed 1886 for inventor Joseph B. Stearns (inn); the NRHP documentation dates it 1886-87. Private home until it became an inn in 1984.
- Architect
- Arthur Bates Jennings
- Type
- Boutique hotel
- Rooms
- 11
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
Inventor Joseph B. Stearns, who sold the rights to his double telegraph to Western Union, declared Camden the most beautiful place in the world and built this house there; it was completed in 1886 and dubbed the Stone Castle by the Sea. He equipped it with the new electric light and steam heat. It stayed a private residence for nearly a century until Elsie Griffin converted it to an inn in 1984. New York architect William Tims and his partner Brett Haynie bought it in May 2022 and restored it as an eleven-room boutique hotel.
Good to know
- Address: 63 High Street, Camden, ME 04843
Sources (2)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.