Bushes Stay at Storm-Battered Retreat : Presidency: Maine vacation home is only partially repaired, with damage at more than $300,000. First couple attends Good Friday services.

President Bush and his wife, Barbara, on Friday spent their first full day at their vacation home here since it was devastated by an ocean storm last fall.

They had to contend with damage that remains unrepaired. Only the first-floor bedroom and kitchen of their retreat on Walkers Point have been fully renovated since the storm battered the house last Oct. 30, aides said, and the exterior of the wood-shingled home still bears scars from the force of the sea.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said this week that the storm had caused between $300,000 and $400,000 in damage, most of it covered by a government-backed flood insurance policy.

The Bushes were greeted on their arrival by more freak weather. Three inches of wet snow fell on the area Thursday night, forcing the President to limit his exercise regimen Friday to walks around the oceanfront compound.

Otherwise maintaining a low profile, the Bushes joined a sparse gathering for a half-hour segment of Good Friday services in a nearby Congregational Church, then returned home--riding in a Chevrolet Suburban instead of the customary limousine.

White House aides said Bush was working around the house and in his office, which is situated on the property in a separate building that was not damaged by the storm.

Earlier this month, Bush’s physician advised him to reduce his pace, and although he has shown no signs of planning the recommended three-week vacation, he seemed to be taking some of the counsel to heart.

Reporters here were advised that they would no longer be permitted to accompany Bush on beachfront walks that have sometimes developed into mobile news conferences, and the couple was unusually close-mouthed as they departed the midday church service.

Asked about the repairs still under way at Walkers Point, Mrs. Bush answered: “We’re sorting.”

But even as they returned to Kennebunkport, the Bushes were not spared from criticisms that underscored the maxim that all politics is local. Demonstrations by AIDS activists and tuna fishermen were expected to take place today.

And a two-page advertisement published in the county newspaper Wednesday reprinted “a message from home” sent to Bush by five area women critical of his pro-life stance on abortion.

The ad, signed by 750 others, was issued to “welcome home our neighbor and President” but contained a bluntly worded warning to Bush.

“The freedom to decide if and when to bear children belongs to the individual,” it said. “We expect the President of the United States to stand up for that freedom. We will tolerate nothing less. We are pro-choice, and we vote.”