The far-flung summer retreat of actor John Travolta returned to the open market recently, with a price snip. The 20-bedroom shingle-style on Islesboro, an artist’s retreat off the coast of Maine, is currently asking $4.25 million of prospective new owners, down over 15% from its initial listing price.

The house was completed in the first years of the last century; Travolta has owned it since the 1990s. A quick look at the façade reveals the expected eccentricity of an aristocratic summer home of the Northeastern United States — a resident ghost isn’t a matter of conjecture, clearly. The Gothic embellishments of the architecture drive home the marvelously mysterious evocations of the property.

Inside the home, though, a pleasant country-cottage design scheme is the rule of thumb. Warm and cool pastels lighten things up, and the design sense is particularly effective in the living room, where a weighty fieldstone fireplace is the centerpiece. Narrow-plank floors—they appear to be maple—and diamond-pane windows are other details at work here. The kitchen is a beauty; the butcher-block island caps and white treatment suggest both airiness and substance.

On to the grounds: five acres, forest and meadow, with plenty of private beachfront to bring the seclusion into better focus. An unusual opportunity to own a true summer getaway.

Travolta’s upcoming projects include Paradise City, with Bruce Willis.