Angering The Locals
Those days may be coming to an end. Rales, who bought the $5.5 million tear-down, used architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates to design his new home in the futuristic style they used for houses in the Hamptons. Construction was finished in April, according to Kyle Avila, the Mount Desert assessor.
The destruction of the century-old Victorian mansion, and the style of the home that replaced it, raised the ire of many of the town's residents, said Emerson, the historian.
"This isn't like the Hamptons, with flashy new houses," he said. "This is Rockefeller country."