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White Barn Inn
Kennebunk, Maine, United States · Auberge Resorts · High Luxury
Two working barns and an 1860s saltwater-farm farmhouse became Maine's best-known coastal inn after the tall barn turned restaurant in 1973. The beamed dining room held Forbes Five-Star status for more than a decade and still anchors Beach Avenue. Auberge bought the property in 2017, later adding Little Barn as a casual sibling, while Michelin One Key, AAA Four Diamond, and Forbes Four-Star keep the old farmstead on the national map.
- 28 rooms
- Opened 1860
- Neighborhood: Kennebunk Beach
- Rooms from 310 sq ft (29 m²)
About White Barn Inn
- Before it was an inn, the site lived as a Civil War-era boarding house and later an ice creamery.
- The White Barn Inn Restaurant held Forbes Five-Star status for more than a decade before the current Four-Star era.
- Auberge's stewardship added Little Barn as a casual counterpart to the flagship barn dining room.
- Guests can borrow bikes, take afternoon tea, use the marina, and join cooking classes built around seasonal Maine ingredients.
- Entry-level rooms start at 310 sq ft (29 m²).
History
The cluster of buildings that constitutes the White Barn Inn traces its history to the 1860s, when the site operated as a saltwater farm on the southern Maine coast near the Kennebunk River. The original farmhouse, with its weathered clapboard exterior and low-ceilinged rooms, reflects the practical vernacular of mid-nineteenth-century coastal New England agriculture. Over the following decades the property passed through identities common to old New England farms as rural economies shifted: a Civil War-era boarding house, an ice creamery, and eventually a small inn. The two barns that anchor the property today were working agricultural buildings before they became the most celebrated dining rooms in Maine.
The transformation of the White Barn Inn into a serious culinary destination accelerated in the 1970s, when the tall barn was fully renovated into a restaurant. The White Barn Inn Restaurant — named, literally, for the white-painted barn that houses it — went on to hold Forbes Five-Star status for more than a decade and has long been considered the premier fine dining destination on the Maine coast. The beamed, barn-frame interior, hung with dried flowers and set with white linens, has become one of the most evocative dining rooms in the American Northeast.
Auberge Resorts Collection acquired the White Barn Inn in 2017, adding Maine's most prestigious inn to a portfolio that had previously been concentrated in California and the American West. Auberge's stewardship brought additional investment to the spa, the cottages, and the property's broader amenity program, while preserving the intimate scale and the sense of unhurried coastal Maine character that had made the inn's reputation.
During the pandemic, the property underwent a comprehensive design renovation that added Little Barn, a more casual counterpart to the flagship restaurant, and refreshed the farmhouse rooms and riverside suites. The rooflines of the original farmhouse, its additions, and the two barns meet in an L-shaped configuration that, from a distance, reads less like a hotel than like the genuine Maine coastal farm that it once was. Guests who come for the restaurant are often surprised by the depth of the property: loaner bikes, afternoon tea, a marina, and cooking classes organized around the seasonal ingredients that reach the White Barn Inn Restaurant's kitchen.
The setting
Kennebunk, a coastal Maine village near Kennebunkport. 11-minute walk to Goochs Beach. 2 miles from Cape Arundel Golf Club.
Restaurants and bars
- The White Barn Inn Restaurant — Restaurant · New England
- Little Barn — Restaurant · Classic New England fare, Maine farmstead and fishery to tab
Experiences
- The Macallan Whisky Tasting — Group experience offered at the hotel.
- Wine & Cheese Pairing — Group experience offered at the hotel.
- Barn Crafts with Kathy Oberman — Group experience offered at the hotel.
- Broad Reach Sailing — Guests can venture to the high seas with Broad Reach Sailing.
- Walks through nature — Reconnect with old friends on a walk through nature.
- Yoga at Spring Creek Farm — Tranquil yoga at Spring Creek Farm.
Amenities
- Pool
- Cottages
- Bicycles
- Spa
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
- MICHELIN One Key (2026)
- AAA Four Diamond (2025)
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