The Nevada

About The Nevada

The Nevada has been on Long Sands Beach since 1951, when Henry de la Pena built a curved motel on the southern Maine coast and named it after the battleship he had served on, designing the L-shaped building to echo the flybridge of the USS Nevada. The property stayed in the de la Pena family for seventy years. When Joe Lipton and Michelle Friar bought it in 2021, a developer had already made an offer intending to demolish it for condos. They chose instead to raise the building three and a half feet out of the flood zone, add a third story in the same mid-century style, and redesign everything inside without changing the building's shape or the teal-and-white palette that had been stopping people on Ocean Boulevard for decades. The result opened in July 2024 and was covered by the Boston Globe, Hospitality Design, and Timeout Boston within weeks.

What The Nevada Is Known For

Joe Lipton and Michelle Friar saved The Nevada from a developer's demolition offer. That is the plain story. They bought it in 2021, raised the building out of the flood zone and rebuilt it floor to ceiling, and kept the curved shape, the teal trim, and the wraparound deck configuration that generations of southern Maine visitors had been slowing down to look at since 1951. One of Maine's first beachfront motels. Still one of the best positions on Long Sands Beach. The renovation was covered by the Boston Globe and Hospitality Design because it was done well and because the building is genuinely worth documenting. The result earned those mentions not by being surprising but by delivering exactly what the building always suggested it could be.

Amenities

• WiFi
• Private wraparound terrace per room
• Lulu's tiki bar and restaurant
• Beach chairs included
• Free parking

The Room

Twenty-one king rooms, each with its own private terrace facing the ocean across Ocean Boulevard. The bathrooms are the detail people mention first: peacock blue tile, white terrazzo floors, glass-enclosed Kohler showers. Art Deco beach aesthetic throughout, with original pop-art murals commissioned from two local Maine artists who are also members of the Viewpoint team. Tivoli radios. Refrigerators with actual freezer compartments. The quiet split-system air conditioning is positioned so it does not interrupt the view or the sleep. Beach chairs and umbrellas are available for guests to borrow at no charge. The rooms are appropriately sized for a building that began life as a 1951 motor motel: efficient, well-considered, and designed around the terrace rather than the interior.

The Grounds

The building's signature move is the wraparound exterior deck that connects every room on every floor. Step outside any room door and you are on the terrace, facing Long Sands Beach across the street. An astroturf fire pit area grounds the social space at street level, with outdoor seating facing the building rather than the road. Lulu's restaurant and tiki bar occupy the ground-floor corner, opening onto a two-tier deck with unobstructed sightlines to the surf. The rear lot provides free parking for all guests. Nubble Lighthouse is a ten-minute drive. The beach is right there.

The Experience

The morning at The Nevada starts on the terrace. The surf is audible before the alarm. Beach chairs are ready at the office. Lulu's opens for dinner, the menu built around pan-tropical dishes: al pastor tacos made on a traditional vertical trompo, Maine lobster rangoon dip, tropical cocktails that earn return orders. In the evenings the fire pit brings guests down from their terraces and the building becomes social in the way that small properties always can. York Beach's historic short strip, the tidepools at Cape Neddick, and the lighthouse are all within minutes. Ogunquit is eight miles north on Route 1. Portsmouth is forty-five minutes south. The property positions itself as a specific Maine coastal experience rather than a generic beach hotel, and the distinction holds up.

Details

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