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Updated: March 20, 2023

Lark Hotels expands Blind Tiger inn brand with second Portland location

brick building exterior with two wooden doors Courtesy / Lark Hotels A second Blind Tiger hotel location opened at 46 Carleton St. in Portland, in the townhouse on the right.
By Laurie Schreiber

In 2020, Lark Hotels rebooted an early-19th-century inn in Portland’s West End as an eclectic nine-room guesthouse called the Blind Tiger.

Now the Newburyport, Mass., company has bought a nearby historic inn and brought it into the Blind Tiger fold, bringing the number of rooms to 15.

The second Blind Tiger at 46 Carleton St. was previously known as the Inn On Carleton.

Lark bought it in April 2022; Dana Moos of Swan Agency Real Estate brokered the deal.

Founded in 2012 by hotelier Rob Blood, Lark is a hotel development and management company that owns hotels in Maine, California, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The 46 Carleton St. location, a few blocks from the original Blind Tiger, was built in 1869 as a private residence, then converted to a bed-and-breakfast.

It's known as the oldest established bed-and-breakfast in Portland, according to a news release. 

The property was in excellent condition when Lark bought it, according to a company spokesperson. 

living room with furniture
Courtesy / Matt Kisiday
Renovations to 46 Carleton St., built in 1869, included refinished floors along with new paint, updated furniture and fixtures.

The updates include fully renovated bathrooms. The floors were refinished, the walls painted and some wallpaper was added. All of the furniture and fixtures were replaced with items collected over the past year.

The first and second floors have “dramatic” ceilings and moldings. Each guest room is individually decorated, some all white and some in darker hues. 

The design was completed by Massachusetts-based design company Elder & Ash, which was founded by Blood and his partner, Megan Kennedy, and leads the renovations of Lark properties.

The house’s two living rooms are equipped with working fireplaces. The wallpaper is intact and enhanced with a custom-painted mural by Portland muralist Ryan Adams.

Lark's Maine properties include the Whitehall in Camden and AWOL Kennebunkport and the Kennebunkport Captains Collection, the latter comprising four historic Maine homes formerly owned by sea captains.

Lark bought and renovated the original Blind Tiger, at 163 Danforth St., reopening it in 2020. The property was previously known as the Danforth Inn. The building is a Federal-style mansion that was built in 1823 by Joseph Holt Ingraham. Since then, the building had various occupants and served multiple purposes as a private home, seminary, school and inn. 

The Blind Tiger brand is focused on secondary urban markets with emerging food and cultural scenes. The brand has plans to open new locations in Burlington, Vt., and Asheville, N.C. this spring.

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