Dinner with a view at The Lookout Inn

Brooklin’s historic inn has been operated by the Smith family since the late 1800s

The view is the star attraction at Brooklin’s 130-year-old Lookout Inn. Photo by Steele Hays.

July 7, 2026

By Steele Hays

BROOKLIN—There’s a spiffy new bar at one end of the dining room and new items on the dinner menu, but the star attraction at Brooklin’s 130-year-old Lookout Inn on Flye Point is still the view—south to Naskeag Point and Jericho Bay, east to the mountains of Mount Desert Island and north towards Long Island.

“A lot of people say it’s the best view in Maine,” said owner Butch Smith.

The Flye Point property has been in Smith’s family since the 1760s and the inn has only had three managers since it opened in 1896. Smith’s great uncle and his grandmother were the first two. Smith, 81, took over in 1975. He’s still running things.

The Flye Point property, where Lookout Inn is located, has been in owners Butch Smith’s family since the 1760s. Photo courtesy of The Lookout Inn.

“People ask if I’m going to retire after 51 years. I tell them that too many people retire and then die soon after,” Smith said. “I’m still here.”

The Lookout is a classic Maine seaside resort, and one of only a few still owned by a member of its founding family. Brooksville’s Oakland House, even older at 137 years, is another. Smith said the Lookout Inn, Oakland House and the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor—all of a similar vintage—were known as “the three sisters” in the past. Now the Claremont is a four-star hotel owned by a corporate hotel chain.

The Lookout remains remarkably unchanged.

“We have guests who’ve come for 50, 60 years straight,” Smith said. “People have passed and now their kids and grandkids are coming.”

Guests are able to choose from one of seven rental cottages on the property or from six rooms in the three-story inn.

Business is slower this year than last, Smith said, adding that the higher cost of gasoline may be a factor. Hosting summer weddings used to be a “bright spot” for the inn from a revenue standpoint, he said, but that business has slowed too.

“We used to average ten or 11 weddings a year, now it’s been more like four to five the last few years,” he said.

Smith is proud of the fact that he’s given many young people from the area their first work experience in the restaurant industry and that many of them have gone on to achieve significant success. Devin Finigan, owner and chef of Deer Isle’s award-winning Aragosta Restaurant, worked at the Lookout for nine years, first as a gardener, then in the kitchen, Smith said.

“I’ve helped out a few people,” he said.

The inn has only had three managers since it opened in 1896. Smith’s great uncle and his grandmother were the first two. Smith, 81, took over in 1975. Photo by Steele Hays.

These days, chefs Benjamin Hallett and Sarah Webb share the cooking duties at the Lookout. Both are in their third year in the roles.

The menu still features traditional Maine fare—“Butch’s crab cakes,” baked salmon, seared scallops, oysters on the half shell, steak and chicken Marsala—but it's been adapted over the years.

“We’ve added a smashburger and more salads,” Smith said, a response to guests’ requests for more contemporary offerings.

The Lookout Inn restaurant is open to the public for dinner Thursdays through Mondays, 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.