Our on-campus residences are a mix of former seaside estates and newer houses built by the college to encourage community living and meet high environmental standards.

All first-year students, as well as some transfer and returning students, live on campus. Each house has its own character and sense of community, and each resident is expected to play a vital role in the house. The college’s dining hall is closed on the weekends, so students regularly make meals together in the house kitchens, sharing ingredients and food traditions. Larger community dinners are common on Sunday evenings. Transfer and returning students may opt to live on campus or rent houses or apartments off campus with friends in Bar Harbor.

Each house has a Resident Advisor (RA)—an older student tasked with facilitating house responsibilities and cohesion. The RAs also serve as a support system for new students as they adjust to college life. Scroll through photos below to get a flavor of each of our residences - click on individual images for detailed captions. 

Blair/Tyson

Blair/Tyson (B/T) is a series of seven connected townhouses, each of which is home to eight residents. Rooms are a mix of singles and doubles, with the occasional triple. Each house has a shared kitchen/common room and exists as a smaller unit within the larger Blair/Tyson community.  Shared coin-operated laundry facilities are available in the lower level of section C. With vibrant color schemes and an open courtyard in the middle, B/T is one of our liveliest residences.

Cottage

Cottage is an old gatehouse that was converted to student housing. It has a cozy living room and kitchen, and its small size gives housemates good opportunities to build deep relationships with one another. Cottage was fully renovated in 2019 with new appliances, bathrooms, flooring, and energy efficiency features. 

Kathryn W. Davis Village

The Kathryn W. Davis Village is COA’s “greenest” housing complex. The houses in the village are heated by a biomass pellet boiler system and are highly energy efficient. All six houses have a living room, kitchen, and dining area on the ground floor, replete with vibrant color schemes and comfy furniture. Upstairs, two floors house eight residents in large student rooms with communal bathrooms boasting composting toilets. More information on the story and sustainable efforts behind Kathryn W. Davis Village is available here . The Davis Village has its own coin-operated laundry facilities. 

Peach House

Peach is a small and cozy house with a spacious kitchen and a lot of cabinets for storage. It boasts a storied history as the birthplace of COA; the first college employees worked in this building for a year before the college expanded into other buildings. Peach House was renovated in 2019 with all new appliances, bathrooms, flooring, and energy efficiency features. 

Seafox

Seafox is a charming old home full of quirky nooks with a fantastic seaside porch. The size of the house (26-28 students) and the central common spaces offer great opportunities for an engaged community in a peaceful and homey atmosphere. Seafox has its own coin-operated laundry facilities. 

New student residence

Slated to open in winter 2024, COA’s newest student residence will house 46 students in a building designed to meet the highest standards of sustainability.