MARY ROBERTS RINEHART
Famous owner of the "Farview" on Eden Street
Now the site of the Wonder View Inn and
The Rinehart Wonder View Restaurant
Mary Roberts was born on August 12, 1876 and died September 20, 1958 at the age of 82. She met her future husband, Dr. Stanley Rinehart while working as a nurse. At the age of 21 she married Dr. Rinehart and became a homemaker and a busy doctor's wife. They had three sons: Stanley, Jr. born in 1897; Alan born in 1900, and Ted born in 1902.
In 1932, after 36 years of marriage, Dr. Rinehart passed away with Mary and their three devoted sons at his bedside.  Complications from a serious arthritic condition widowed Mary at age 56.
Mary first came to Bar Harbor in 1935 and rented a cottage at the hotels. In 1936, she rented a house, and in 1937 decided to buy the Farview. After major renovations she finally moved into the house in 1939. The house burned in the 1947 fire.
She wrote 60 novels, mostly plays and mysteries including: The Circular Staircase (sold over 800,000 copies), rewritten as a play entitled, "The Bat". Others include:
The Wall
The Man in Lower Ten
The Yellow Room
The Red Lamp
The Out Trail
A Poor Wise Man
The case of Jennie Brice |
Lost Ecstasy
Tisk Plays The Game
Nomad's Land
Temperamental People
The Breaking Point
Dangerous Days
When a Man Marries |
She also had stories published in the Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and the Saturday Evening Post.
IN 1947 here Filipino chef, Blas Reyes, who had been with her for 25 years tried to murder her. His efforts failed after the gun he was using misfired twice. Her chauffeur came to the rescue, grabbed the gun and threw it over the wall. Reyes was arrested by the Bar Harbor Police and put in jail, where he later hung himself.
The Wonder View Inn was built in 1953 and The Rinehart Wonder View Restaurant was built in 1967. A fire destroyed the restaurant in 1972, and it was rebuilt as the current structure.
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