Windermere House Muskoka

Windermere House, Lake Rosseau - copyright Melanie Wills

On the far, opposite shore of Lake Rosseau from Cleveland’s House (discussed last week) lies Windermere House. Originally of the same vintage, this popular hotel burned down in 1996 during the filming of a Hollywood movie. Unlike the dozens of other Muskoka resorts lost to fire, however, this one rose again from the ashes.

Windermere House, early 1900s - photo by Frank Micklethwaite

We stayed there before and after the fire, and marvelled at how accurately it had been rebuilt, with a few concessions to present times, like an elevator. Recently the interior has been altered, losing some of its Victorian charm.

Cleveland's House Muskoka

Cleveland's House, Lake Rosseau - copyright Gabriele Wills

Here are some of the same islands as seen in last week’s photo, but from a different perspective – looking east instead of south. This is the waterfront at Cleveland’s House, the oldest surviving Muskoka resort.

Because 19th century settlers on these lakes discovered that their free land was mostly rock and not conducive to farming, they soon began renting out rooms to adventurers seeking a wilderness holiday. Many of the 100 inns and resorts that once populated the three large, interconnected lakes – Muskoka, Rosseau, and Joseph -  began as farmsteads, as did Cleveland’s House, founded by the Minett family in 1869. 

In my novel, Under the Moon, I loosely based the Seafords’ “Pineridge Inn” on Cleveland’s House, and located it where the Shamrock Lodge sits.