Roosevelt Campobello International Park – Campobello, New Brunswick - Atlas Obscura

Roosevelt Campobello International Park

Campobello, New Brunswick

The 32nd president's sprawling cottage sits on an island enclave jointly managed by the U.S. and Canada.  

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Just across the way from Lubec, Maine—the easternmost town on the continental U.S.—is Campobello Island. Though the island itself is part of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, a portion of it is parkland jointly managed by the U.S. and Canada, in honor of the many summers that Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent splashing and strolling there. 

The Roosevelts spent many summers in a breezy 34-room cottage, which is open to visitors from Victoria Day through Canadian Thanksgiving. The interior of the Arts and Crafts-inspired home—originally constructed in 1897, for a Boston family—has been decked out to look frozen in time in 1920, just before FDR contracted polio. Board games are splayed out in some gathering spaces, where family members clustered around kerosene lamps and fireplaces to retreat from the fog that often rolled in off the water.

The surrounding gardens are also being restored to their 19th-century splendor, bursting with dahlias, gladiolas, and peonies. Elsewhere on the 2,800 acres, which wind through sphagnum bogs and fir and hardwood forests, avian enthusiasts can look out for more than 150 species of birds. From the Mulholland Point lighthouse, visitors can look out over the waters where FDR sailed, among some of the most dramatic tidal fluctuations in the world.

Know Before You Go

The island is accessible by bridge and ferry, though the boats only run seasonally. Check the website for details.

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February 1, 2018

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