A story about Cottages of Maine, lake culture, and what it means to welcome the whole family.
The loons start calling before the mist lifts off the lake. That is usually the first thing guests notice. Not the view through the glass, not the fire pit waiting by the water’s edge, but that sound. A sound so specific to this corner of Maine that it stops people mid-sentence.
They set down their coffee. They listen.
Richard and Alana built Cottages of Maine around exactly that kind of moment. Not the amenity. The arrival. The exhale that happens when a place finally feels the way a vacation is supposed to feel — unhurried, unscripted, and big enough for the whole family, including the dogs.
A Problem Worth Solving
The idea didn’t start with a spreadsheet. It started with a frustration most dog owners know well: the dispiriting search for a vacation rental that actually welcomes pets. Not tolerates them. Not charges a steep fee and buries a list of restrictions in the fine print. Actually welcomes them with space to roam, finishes that hold up, and the kind of outdoor access that makes a retriever or a shepherd feel like they have arrived somewhere made for them.
Alana and Richard had fallen hard for Maine’s lake country — the quieter, more intentional interior that sits well away from the coastal tourist circuit. When they began building a short-term rental portfolio, the dog-friendly gap in the market was impossible to ignore. Most properties that called themselves pet-friendly were doing the bare minimum. There was room to do something genuinely different.
“We wanted ‘dog-friendly’ to be a core part of the story, not just a tagline.”
What emerged was Cottages of Maine: a collection of lake properties designed from the beginning around the idea that a family vacation means bringing everyone. The four-legged members included.
Modern Maine Cottage, Built to Live In
The design philosophy Alana describes as “Modern Maine Cottage” is not a marketing category — it is a set of deliberate choices that show up in how the property feels. Natural light is the organizing principle. Windows are positioned to bring the water into every room, so the lake is never just a thing you walk out to see. It is the view from the kitchen while you make breakfast. It is what you look at from the couch on a grey afternoon.
The finishes are higher-end than most dog-friendly rentals attempt. Durable enough to survive multiple dogs and multiple seasons, but chosen with an eye toward warmth rather than just practicality. This is the specific tension Alana and Richard decided to resolve: that luxury and functionality do not have to trade off against each other. Heat pumps keep the property genuinely comfortable through a Maine winter. A hot tub extends the lakeside season in both directions. The outdoor space is large enough for multiple dogs to move freely, explore, and tire themselves out.
The dedicated dog supplies, the kind of thoughtful kit that signals a host has actually thought about what a traveling pet owner needs — are one of the details guests mention consistently. It is a small thing that communicates something larger: you were expected here. You were planned for.
“The first wow is almost always the view the moment you walk through the door. And then the loons start calling.”
The Heart of Maine Lake Country
This region sits away from the postcard version of Maine that fills the summer travel magazines. There are no whale-watch boats, no lobster shack lines that stretch around the block. What there is, is lake culture. The quieter, more considered pace of an area where people come to actually stop moving for a while. Alana and Richard are particular about which local spots they send guests to, because they live this area themselves.
Alana calls it the perfect first stop, and it earns that description. A latte from Borderlands sets the tone for a Maine morning in a way that a drive-through on the interstate never could. The atmosphere is local in the specific sense — a place where people actually know each other, where the conversation at the counter is worth paying attention to. This is how a lake week should begin.
The Bankery & Skowhegan Fleuriste
Located inside a historic bank building, The Bankery produces the kind of bread and pastry that makes you feel like you’ve discovered something the rest of the world hasn’t found yet. Alana is direct about it: you cannot leave without something from here. A loaf for the lake house, a pastry for the drive. The building itself is worth a look — a piece of local history given a new, useful life.
For a lakeside charcuterie board assembled with any seriousness, Crooked Face Creamery is not optional. Their handcrafted ricotta has won international recognition and that’s the kind of accolade that tends to stay local and quiet in Maine, where boasting is not particularly in fashion. Stop in, pick up a few of their cheeses, and bring them back to the fire pit. That setting was made for exactly this.
Maine wine is not what most visitors expect, and Dragonfly Winery is the best possible introduction to it. Alana describes it as a hidden gem for a relaxing afternoon — a place to slow down, sample something you won’t find anywhere else, and sit with the particular stillness that this part of the state seems to produce. An afternoon here moves at its own pace, and that is entirely the point.
Waterville’s revitalized Main Street carries the energy of a downtown that has figured out what it wants to be. The shopping is worth an afternoon, and the mix of historic architecture and current investment gives the street a texture that feels earned rather than manufactured. Alana sends guests here specifically because it offers something different from the lake, a reminder that the surrounding region has its own character worth exploring.
What Guests Take Home
The guest comments that have stayed with Alana are not about the hot tub, the complimentary kayaks at the dock or the well-chosen finishes. They are about the transition. Guests describe arriving wound tight — phones full, heads full, the particular compression of modern schedules, then leaving having taken a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding back.
Dogs figure in these accounts more than you might expect. A dog that runs the yard freely for a week, that swims and rests and explores, comes home noticeably different. So does its owner. Alana talks about this specifically: a tired, happy dog at the end of a Cottages of Maine stay is one of the markers she uses to measure a successful visit. The dog doesn’t lie. If the dog is content, the family was actually present.
“If a guest leaves feeling like they’ve finally taken a deep breath for the first time in months — and their dogs are tired and happy — then we’ve given them a true Cottages of Maine experience.”
Milestone stays are part of the story, too. The properties have hosted reunions and celebrations, the kinds of gatherings that mark something in a family’s life and need a place that can hold the weight of that occasion. A lake house at the edge of still water, surrounded by enough space for everyone and every animal, turns out to be the right setting for a great many things.
Planning Your First Visit
Alana’s ideal day begins with coffee on the deck while the mist is still sitting on the water and the dogs are working through their morning exploration of the yard. Midday belongs to the kayaks — out to a quiet cove for fishing or drifting with a book. She is partial to romantasy novels on the lake, a preference she offers without apology.
Evening belongs to the fire pit. Grill something local, roast s’mores, and stay outside long enough for the stars to come out fully. This is the specific reward of Maine lake country’s limited light pollution: a sky that earns the description. The stars out here make you recalibrate your sense of scale.
Alana and Richard provide a digital guidebook that handles the logistics — where to go, what to know before you arrive, how to get the most out of the area. The foundation is already there. The task for the guest is simply to show up and let the lake do its work.
What This Place Is Really For
There is a version of the vacation rental industry built entirely on the transaction: a property, a price, a checkout time. Alana and Richard built their dog-friendly Maine lake retreat in deliberate opposition to that model. The properties they’ve created are not a category to optimize for search — they are a position on what a vacation is supposed to do for a person.
It is supposed to slow you down. Give you back the ability to hear a bird call and actually stop for it. Hand you a coffee and a view and nothing you need to do next. And if you’re the kind of person who travels with a dog — who would not consider a trip that required leaving a family member behind — it is supposed to make you feel like you were thought of when the place was built.
The loons will be calling when you get there. That part, at least, is guaranteed.
— Cottages of Maine | Real Maine. For the whole family.
