Built and Cultural Heritage Awards

CHARBDIS ISLAND, THE KETTLES, MORTIMER’S POINT

This island is part of a group of islands known as the Kettles, off Mortimer’s Point on Lake Muskoka was originally known as Oram’s Island during the time when the cottage was built in 1891 by John Oram.  The cottage’s builder is attributed to William Mortimer who also served as the island’s caretaker for many years.

 

In keeping with the Shingle style of architecture made popular in eastern Unites States, the cottage was asymmetrical in layout with second floor balcony projections over extensive verandas. The front room was doubled in size about 1912 featuring a large stone fireplace. The steep roofs, balconies, verandas and cedar shake exterior were typical of the period.

 

Both the exterior and interior of the cottage, the detail and finish, have been carefully retained or restored with a minimum of change necessitated only by family living and confined mainly to the kitchen addition built in 1999.

 

The original gazebo of 1905 has been rebuilt to its original likeness and the boathouse of 1894 is fitted for a steam launch and has been retained and is still in use.

 

The present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Morson, have put great effort into the respectful conservation of the property, the trees and the original walk around the island.  They have retained the look and feel of its earliest days on Lake Muskoka.”

 

 

THE COOPER COTTAGE, NORTH BEAUMARIS, LAKE MUSKOKA

The original peninsula property on which the Cooper cottage sits in the Beaumaris area was originally part of a larger tract of land known more recently as the Buck cottage. 

 

During World War II, the owner at the time lent the property at the rear of the cottage to the military for use as a recuperative hospital for wounded air force pilots. The Canadian Government built an Annex or back building to the main cottage to house 100 injured enlisted men.  This Annex would become the nucleus of the Cooper Cottage.

 

During the war, there were a number of such temporarily converted cottages outside Toronto to avoid concentrating in a central location, one of Canada’s most valuable war assets, its pilots.

 

The Royal Canadian Air Force built the annex as a type of hospital ward.  Traces of their presence can be seen in the wide hallways for maneuvering gurneys, remnants of the original linoleum and the lawn bowling balls used by the patients that now are arranged on the mantle.

 

A recent addition to the cottage by Toronto architect, John Vanstone, provides a restful haven for three expanding generations currently enjoying the cottage which was separated from the original Buck cottage property many years ago.

 

The surrounding tastefully landscaped terrain is a highlight of this cottage, having been designed and executed by a local horticulturalist.  The property reflects the informed sensibility of its present owner Mrs. Anne McCall Cooper.

 

RAMATOLA, BEAUMARIS, LAKE MUSKOKA 

This property at the north-west end of Tondern Island has been in the same family for five generations since its purchase from Reuben Miller around 1905.  The cottage is believed to have been built in the late 1890s.

 

Named after William and Mary Hilliard’s children:  Raymond, Mary, Thomas and Laura, Ramatola depicts historical revival styles frequently chosen to represent tradition, stability and references to the past. 

 

William’s son Thomas was the second generation to inherit the cottage and Thomas’ daughter, Elsie Hilliard Hillman with her children and grandchildren continue the family tradition today.

 

This charming cottage is very reflective of “Old Beaumaris” and its prosperous owner while retaining the sturdy flavour of a woodsy retreat.  The cottage is very masculine in its mass and gives the immediate appearance of being solidly attached to its environment.  Built of wood clapboard and shingle with little applied detail, the house has a broad, low-pitched roof and was eventually painted dark brown to blend with its surroundings and not detract from the masses of granite that abound the property. 

 

The first impression upon entering the cottage was the amount of wood.  All the walls and ceilings are paneled in basswood and the floors planked in Muskoka oak or pine.  The living room has remained unchanged except for white-washed walls to allow for more light.

 

The cottage was designed so that their owner could enjoy the outdoors both awake and asleep.  Set back in the trees, the cottage has natural air conditioning and in good weather the family gathered on the wide verandah to take advantage of the breezes and view.  Screened sleeping porches on the upper level were the preferred nighttime accommodations.

 

The landscape at Ramatola remains rugged and untouched except for a small area of cultivated meadow that forms the landscaped lawn and garden to the side of the cottage. The use of bull rushes and clumps of purple and yellow native flags along the water’s edge has been maintained to support the lake system.  

 

Built Urban Heritage Award

WESTLAWN, McMURRAY STREET, BRACEBRIDGE

Dr. Samuel Bridgland was the first resident doctor in Bracebridge and his home which he built on McMurray Street was the first brick home in Bracebridge.  He acquired the property from his brother-in-law J.E. Lount and built the home in 1880.  The house is located on the west side of McMurray Street whereby getting its name “Westlawn” and the original brass name plaque on its original door still welcomes visitors.

 

Upon his death in 1903 and age 53, Dr. Bridgland’s funeral was held at St. Thomas Anglican church and in 1904 a memorial window in his memory was dedicated at the church with Bishop George Thorneloe present at the unveiling.  The beautiful east window over the church altar was erected by Dr. Bridgland’s bereaved relatives.

 

Westlawn has two distinct sections of which the back half was used as Bridgland’s infirmary and office.  The appointments in the home are richly Victorian in nature although it originally sported an Edwardian style front porch.

 

The property was purchased by Albert Steer in 1921 and then sold to George Johnson and remained with the Johnson family until 1966 when it was sold and converted into apartments.  Although converted, most of the charm and elegance of the original home was merely covered over or built on to when dividing up the house.

 

In 1989, Boyd and Cathy Smith purchased “Westlawn” and began to reconvert the house back to a single-family dwelling and its once beautiful charm.  They spent all of one summer, digging out the dirt floor basement and reinforcing the clay walls to support the sagging structure and to provide a functioning and dry storage area. A large cistern used during Bridgland’s doctoring days existed in the basement but was not salvageable.

 

All crown and ceiling moldings were once again exposed or replicated to their original design and fireplaces revealed behind old drywall. The walnut staircase still adorns the front hall and hardwood floors were re-exposed.

 

Although the house was brought up to today’s standards and comforts, the Victorian integrity was maintained including a Victorian style wrap-around porch.

 

The home accommodates 5 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and 2 half baths, 4 fireplaces, as well as its original front and back staircases and a full side lawn synonymous of lawn tennis and lawn bowls.

 

 

Built Commercial or Government Heritage Award

 MUSKOKA CLASSIC COTTAGE EMPORIUM, MAPLE STREET, PORT CARLING

 In 1881 William Hanna moved to Port Carling and opened a small store in what was known as Bay View House on Maple Street.  The store was described as a real bazaar of items and sold everything that any purchaser could want. 

 

By 1900 Hanna had outgrown his original location at the top of Maple Street in and moved down the street to the building’s present location by the river at the corner of Lock Street and Maple.  In the height of its prosperity, Hanna’s General store employed 28 employees.

 

In October 1931 a fire started in the basement of the store, destroyed the entire downtown core and spread to buildings on the waterfront behind the shop.  The blaze could be seen as far away as Windermere and the fire occurred just two nights after the Port Carling Boatworks had burned to the ground.

 

By the summer of 1932, most of the main street was rebuilt in brick and the building closest to the bridge again housed the Hanna Company Store and the building we know today.  This new store had an 80-foot frontage on the street and featured a hand-operated elevator for moving merchandise to the second storey.  Of course many deplored the passing of the quaint wooden building which had epitomized the essential village atmosphere while others were pleased that the ramshackled fire-trap was gone and that the store and other businesses on the street now had a modern urban look.
For many years, the Hanna store was the flagship store to Port Carling’s downtown but as Hanna family members passed away, the store was eventually sold to John Dixon who opened a Red and White Grocery Store. After 10 years, John sold it to the Myers Bros and the store became an IGA.  The IGA eventually moved to expand and the store changed hands several more times until its present owner, Greg Mannion, carefully restored the building right down to its original floors, wooden double front doors and wooden window frames and mullions.  The original head stone is still visible on the building.  The store re-opened in 2009 as a showroom selling everything from gourmet foods to cottage décor, not too unlike William Hanna did more than 100 years before.  

 

 

Community and Cultural Heritage Award

 VILLAGE OF DORSET, TOWNSHIP OF LAKE OF BAYS

 Established in 1859, Dorset was originally named Cedar Narrows because of the trees that lined the water’s edge at the narrows on Lake of Bays. Dorset joins Lake of Bays with Kawagama Lake which is reputed to be the cleanest lake in Ontario and is one of the feeder waterways to Lake of Bays.  This tiny village is older than several of Muskoka’s more urban communities, brought about by the lumber trade.

 

In 1892 Dorset became the northern headquarters of the Gilmour Lumber Company, acquiring timber rights to a large tract of crown land within Algonquin Park.  The Gilmour Lumber Company is most famous for the Gilmour Tramway that lifted 20 foot logs half a mile uphill over a 70 foot height of land from Lake of Bays to Raven Lake on its way to Trenton, Ontario.  The tramway structure cost $1 million to construct and, although successfully operated, was abandoned after only one year of use. 

 

Today, Dorset sports a very active Historical Society that maintains the Dorset Museum, the Scenic Lookout Tower and the Lake of Bays Marine and Navigational Museum with its newest attraction, the restored steamboat “Bigwin”.  The Historical Society provides self-guided walking tours of the Village that highlights many of its well-known inhabitants such as Group of Seven painter Franz Johnston and historical locations including the single-lane humpbacked bridge, on the original Bobcaygen Road, that joins the District of Muskoka with the County of Haliburton.