One of two gate lodges (the other being the Brown Mountain Gate Lodge) built for John D. Rockefeller Jr. to serve as entry points to his system of carriage roads and to guard against the entry of automobiles. They were built in 1931-1932.
The Jordan Pond Gate Lodge is located just south of Jordan Pond on the Loop Road. It is the smaller of the two lodges.
The two lodges were designed by Grosvenor Atterbury, a New York architect who had previously designed the Congregational Church in Seal Harbor. Atterbury shared Rockefeller's dedication to philanthropy and was one of the few architects to study and use light and ventilation in tenement buildings. These lodges allowed Atterbury to design for the aesthetics of a grand estate and the purpose of housing the working class families that cared for the carriage roads. While the exteriors appear castle-like, the interiors are modest and were clearly designed with the needs of the residents in mind.
The gate lodges were subsequently given to Acadia National Park along with the system of carriage roads. In the years since, they have served as housing for park employees. While they are no longer necessary to guard against the entry of automobiles, they serve as a reminder of this long tradition and as architectural gems within the Park.
