History

It all started when…

The original Lakewood Inn Restaurant was constructed in 1927. During the winter of 1938-39 the terrace dining room, formerly an outdoor eating place, was enclosed. During the early years the kitchen doubled in size.

In the late 1980's, the ladies in colorful finery and the men in white dinner jackets faded into the pines. The Inn was abandoned. The building was closed, forgotten, neglected through most of the 1990's. The roof over the kitchen collapsed under the weight of un-shoveled snow and the once glorious summer showcase became an icy shell.  The passage of the years transformed once elegant rooms into a landscape of rotten floors, peeling paint, and leaky roofs. Herbert's dream was now a nightmare.

The dilapidated Inn was donated to Curtain Up Enterprises in December 1998 by the Alioupolis Family of New Hampshire. Many suggested the structure should simply be leveled...gone with the times. After a year of contemplation and consultation, the directors of CUE resolved to preserve the vision of founder Herbert L. Swett and pressed forward with the restoration of the Lakewood Inn Restaurant.

Jon Saleeby of North New Portland, master carpenter, meticulous craftsman, and Lakewood thespian accepted the challenge. The wainscoting in the lobby, the fieldstone walls, three fireplaces, and the terra cotta floors in the Terrace Room were restored. The iron chandeliers in the Ballroom glowed anew. Antique hutches, sideboards, and cottage furniture turned back the hands of time.

The Lakewood Inn Restaurant re-opened in 2000. Something old is new again...How the restaurant has changed.  We hope you enjoy your libations and elegant entrée’s.  Please feel free to tell us any of your stories that have helped make Lakewood what it is today.