Available for sale from Sandy & Samantha Waldie
After having known an enchanting Tondern Island, Beaumaris, Lake Muskoka property, and the lovely family that summer holidayed there for over 25 years, and realizing she would soon be honoured to represent it in its upcoming sale, Chestnut Park sales representative Sandy Waldie was curious to see what her favourite book on the history of the area had to say about this fine estate. She sought out her timeworn copy of Beaumaris, by Patricia Walbridge Ahlbrandt. There, Ahlbrandt identifies the property, also known as Karne Cross Cottage, as the “House in the Woods,” and later as the “little white cottage.”
While the five-bedroom, three-bath lakehouse isn’t actually little, both descriptions seem to be trying to get at something intangible, a certain magical, storybook aspect that is hard to pin down. It’s the “Beaumaris effect”—the historical charm that characterizes so many of the summer homes in this coveted area of Lake Muskoka. Here, most of the buildings have their roots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the area began to draw Canadian and American families, many with staff, who travelled intrepidly by rail and steamship to summer in their great cedar-shake lakefront hideaways, famous for relying on ice houses for refrigeration.
Karne Cross Cottage dates back over a century, to 1912, when it was built for Pittsburgh banker Thomas Mellon II. It has changed hands only a few times since then, with the current sellers parting from what has been a beloved summer home after four decades. “This property has been very well attended to over the years,” says Sandy. “In fact, historical items, like the original Thomas Mellon silver-plate flatware, evoke so much timeless gracefulness, as in so many of the Beaumaris summer homes, which are so rich in history that has stood the test of time and remains ever so vibrant and alive today, as ownerships pass on to the next generations.”
Take, for example, the multi-slip boathouse, which includes a 60-foot slip built to house the long wooden boats of a bygone era. Today, that slip alone provides enough room to house five boats. The guest house with a dedicated dressing area, the lakehouse’s “helper’s suite,” and a waterside verandah speak of the languorous summer days, garden parties, and extravagances of glorious “Gatsby”-like days gone by.
The property’s three main buildings include the lakehouse, the guest house, and the aforementioned two-slip boathouse, which boasts an upper-level two-bedroom pied-à-terre with an expansive living area and gorgeous sundeck. Typical of Beaumaris style, throughout the buildings are features such as basswood-lined walls, pretty-as-a-picture bedrooms, and screened-in porches. In the lakehouse’s great room a statement-making coffered ceiling and stone fireplace built by legendary Muskoka stonemason Bud Smith leave an unforgettable impression.
Outside, you will be delighted by a Narnia-like quality thanks to winding flagstone pathways, rich perennial gardens, the gentle slope of grass down to the water’s edge, and the whitewashed buildings peeking out from between pine trees. As for views and vistas, because the property is located on the tip of Tondern Island, some of the finest and oldest architecture of Beaumaris is on full display in the distance, and with a wide lake view and southwest exposure, forever-casting sunsets are par for the course.
For sales agents Sandy Waldie and her daughter Samantha, together known as “The Waldie Girls,” the infrequent listings that come up in Beaumaris always present a fascinating opportunity to understand and help preserve the history of the area.
“In my experience of this neighbourhood,” says Sandy, “the people who buy here buy because they respect the history, they love the history, and they want to become a part of the history going forward.”
Which is not to say that renovations or even new builds are unheard of, but rather that they tend to be undertaken with great respect, and they pay homage to the flavour of their surroundings.
“In my experience of this neighbourhood,” says Sandy, “the people who buy here buy because they respect the history, they love the history, and they want to become a part of the history going forward.”
As we reflect on this beautiful offering of Karne Cross Cottage, it is relatively rare to see properties come up for sale here. Nevertheless, for Sandy, flipping through Beaumaris by Patricia Ahlbrandt turned out to be something of a walk down memory lane. “I realized I had a connection to so many of these properties,” she explains. “It turned out that between Ian Waldie, myself, and now our daughter Samantha, we have represented the families of 18 of the 21 featured in the book that have sold in the last few decades.”
Samantha grew up hearing her parents talk of this magical, historical place. Now, as an adult and sales representative with her own experience of Beaumaris and her own young family, she sees that the appeal goes beyond history to something actually timeless. “What you experience here is a community,” she explains, “a very special pocket in the lakes where many of the cottages are accessed by golf cart, there’s very little showmanship, and although everyone has their own space and privacy, people are interested in one another.”
Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage
110 Medora Street, P.O. Box 444, Port Carling, Ontario P0B 1J0
Sandy: Cell (705) 646-4747 • Office: 705-765-6878 • [email protected]
Samantha: Cell (705) 706-3350 • Office: 705-765-6878 • [email protected]
www.muskokalakescottages.net
