Fara Lodge & Nordic Spa is Uncommon Hospitality’s newest project in Rangeley, Maine, slated to open in late 2027 with 10 guestrooms, two private cottages, and a Nordic spa experience. The project is planned for late 2027 in Rangeley, Maine, with 10 guestrooms, two private cottages, and a Nordic spa overlooking Saddleback Mountain.
What Uncommon Hospitality Announced in Rangeley
Uncommon Hospitality has announced Fara Lodge & Nordic Spa as its newest Maine project in Rangeley, with an opening slated for late 2027. The property is being designed with Jocelyn O Dickson Architecture, the Maine-based, woman-owned architecture firm also known as JODA, while MCD Spa Consulting is developing the Nordic spa experience.
Fara Lodge will include 10 guestrooms and two private cottages, making it a small lodge retreat rather than a large resort. If you prefer a hotel where the spa, bar, cafe, and communal spaces are all within the same small orbit, Fara belongs on your late-2027 list. If you want a wide room inventory, multiple restaurants, and the anonymity of a large property, this is probably not your format.
The announced amenities are practical rather than vague: spa facilities with multiple sauna and thermal experiences, an all-day cafe, communal spaces, and a restored historic bar. The Great Hall is planned around two stone fireplaces, and the cafe is planned for counter-service breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus grab-and-go offerings. That matters because Rangeley trips often revolve around what you do outside the hotel; Fara’s announced plan gives guests a base for breakfast, thermal bathing, and a drink without turning every meal into a drive.
Uncommon Hospitality already has Maine projects in different settings: The Longfellow and The Francis in Portland, plus The Admiral’s Inn and The Colonial Inn in Ogunquit. Tony and Nate DeLois opened The Francis in 2017, and Nate is co-principal and chief financial officer of Uncommon Hospitality, while Tony is co-principal and chief operating officer.
The Fara Lodge Nordic Spa Story: 10 Rooms, Two Cottages
Ten guestrooms and two private cottages create a narrow funnel for overnight access, especially because hotel guests are planned to receive complimentary spa access. If that policy holds in practice, the overnight guest has the cleaner experience than the day-pass visitor: sleep on property, use the thermal circuit, return to the lodge, repeat.
JODA’s material direction gives the project a clearer identity than most early hotel announcements. The lodge is planned with original stone fireplaces and pine paneling set against oversized lanterns, vintage Swedish sofas, and a palette of oxblood, dusty blue, and deep rust. Guest-facing details include wrap-around pine banquettes, fabrics by Schumacher, McLaurin & Piercy, and Commune for Kufri, plus integrated boot warmers, built-in storage millwork, and teal tilework.
Fara is aimed at travelers who notice the Maine-made furniture and the art program. Jocelyn O Dickson, principal of JODA, put it this way: "Every material decision, from the Maine-made furniture to the art program, tells the story of this region and the people who have shaped it."1
The Francis gives the group a Portland boutique-hotel reference point; Fara gives it a Rangeley retreat built around thermal bathing, mountain-facing wellness, and a smaller overnight footprint. If you are choosing a Maine base for restaurants and city walking, Portland still makes more sense. If you want the property itself to anchor the trip, Fara is the one to watch.
Inside the Saddleback-Facing Nordic Spa
The spa program is the reason Fara Lodge & Nordic Spa is worth tracking before rates or reservations enter the conversation. The wellness center is planned to overlook Saddleback Mountain and include Maine-built cedar tubs, outdoor wood-fired saunas, an indoor Finnish dry sauna, fireside lounging, a relaxation yurt, and outdoor hot and cold plunge pools.
That mix matters because it gives the property a full thermal rhythm rather than a treatment-room-only spa. A guest could move from dry heat to cold plunge, then to fireside lounging or the relaxation yurt, then back to the lodge. The outdoor spa deck is planned with hot tubs and showers, and relaxation rooms are part of the announced communal areas. For a cold-weather Maine trip, those are the amenities that decide whether the hotel works as a destination or just a bed.
The day-pass component changes the access picture. Hotel guests are planned to receive complimentary spa access, and day passes will be available for visitors. That is good for Rangeley because the spa can serve people who are not staying overnight, but it also makes the 10-room inventory more important for Pearl readers. If you want the quietest version of the experience, an overnight stay in one of the guestrooms or cottages should be the cleaner play than arriving as a day user.
MCD Spa Consulting is part of the team. The spa’s sequence, capacity, transitions, and wet and dry zones will determine the guest flow. The announced elements are promising because they are specific: cedar tubs, wood-fired saunas, Finnish dry sauna, hot and cold plunge pools. The open question for the traveler is how those pieces will be paced once the property opens, but the format is clear enough to justify early interest.
Why Rangeley Changes the Maine Hotel Equation
Rangeley gives Fara a different proposition from Uncommon Hospitality’s Portland and Ogunquit projects. Nate DeLois has said the inspiration for the project is Rangeley itself and that his family enjoys the area year-round. The property is being framed around its setting rather than imported resort theater.
The wellness center overlooks Saddleback Mountain, giving the thermal circuit a reason to be in Rangeley rather than a spa concept that could sit in any wealthy suburb. The details also stay rooted in Maine: Maine-built cedar tubs, Maine-made furniture, and JODA’s regional design lens. The lodge makes the sauna the main event.
Rangeley also broadens the way affluent travelers can think about Maine. Portland already has the restaurant-and-hotel rhythm. Ogunquit gives Uncommon Hospitality a different leisure setting through The Admiral’s Inn and The Colonial Inn. Fara points inland, toward a smaller-room-count stay where the mountain view, thermal bathing, fireplaces, and restored bar are doing the work.
Fara is a second-stop candidate. The more useful itinerary, if the final opening matches the plan, is Portland first for restaurants and city hotels, then Rangeley for the lodge-and-spa portion. Fara Lodge Nordic Spa is better suited to couples and small groups who want a quiet base than to travelers who need many room categories or a large-houseparty setup.
What to Watch Before Late 2027
Complimentary access for hotel guests and day passes for visitors are both meaningful, but the guest experience will depend on capacity, pass timing, and how the property separates overnight rhythm from day-use traffic.
Second, the cottages. With only two private cottages announced, those will likely be the rooms to track first for privacy, space, and group suitability. The 10 guestrooms may be the better choice for travelers who want to stay closer to the Great Hall, cafe, restored historic bar, and spa circulation. Until final room layouts arrive, the decision is less about category names and more about how close you want to be to the lodge’s communal center.
Third: the food-and-drink program. The all-day cafe is planned for counter-service breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with grab-and-go offerings, and the restored bar sits in one of the property’s historic spaces. That sounds like a lodge built for practical eating rather than a tasting-menu hotel. If you need a chef-driven dinner every night, keep watching for more detail. If you want breakfast, thermal bathing, mountain time, and a proper bar, the announced setup already reads correctly.
The Rangeley Nordic Spa design was completed in 2022 by Jocelyn Dickson and Brandon Dean. The details to watch next are the finished guest rooms, the flow between lodge and wellness center, and whether the restored bar retains enough character to become the property’s evening center (Jocelynodickson2).
Add Fara Lodge & Nordic Spa to your late-2027 Maine watchlist if you prefer small hotels, thermal bathing, and design details with a regional point of view. Skip the early tracking if you need a major resort, a large restaurant program, or certainty on rates today. Rangeley now has a forthcoming property with enough specificity, 10 guestrooms, two cottages, a Saddleback-facing wellness center, and a full Nordic spa circuit, to change how high-end travelers plan Maine after Portland.
