The Viewpoint Hotel

Visitors to York, Maine, rarely leave without snapping a photo of Nubble Lighthouse, an 1879 landmark perched on a rocky bluff. But now, travelers can glimpse the postcard scene from the comfort of a plush king-size bed. In The Viewpoint Hotel’s new shoreside rooms, walls of glass frame dazzling views of the lighthouse, as well as puttering lobster boats and soaring shorebirds. The seven rooms are part of a curving concrete construction that’s been carved into a grassy hillside. With passive solar design and flat green roofs keeping sightlines to the lighthouse uninterrupted, it’s a sleek look for an otherwise traditional New England beach town. As longtime York residents, owners Joseph Lipton and Michelle Friar flout the stereotype of stuck-in-their-ways Mainers. “We’re never people who stay very stagnant,” Lipton says. In July 2024, they also debuted The Nevada Hotel, a reimagined beachfront motor motel from the 1950s. Now, with a portfolio of three hotels and three restaurants in town, the duo predicts their rising tide will lift all boats. “I think there’s a generational change that’s happening [in York],” says Lipton. “And we’re excited about it.”