Cottage of the Week: $13.9 million for a private island on Lake Muskoka
ADDRESS: Old Woman Island, Lake Muskoka
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Muskoka Lakes
AGENT: Diane McKee, Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage
PRICE: $13,900,000
THE PLACE: Old Woman Island, a nearly 16-acre island in the middle of Lake Muskoka that has six beaches and seven matching buildings.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: The origin of the island’s name is up for debate. One theory is that it stems from a native legend in which a young man carved his lover’s face into the stump of a tree when circumstances forced them apart. He returned years later to find that the tree’s aging had caused the face to crease and pucker. The other—much less romantic—theory is that a man left his older wife on the island and ran off to marry a younger woman. Either way, it’s good dinner party fodder.
BIG SELLING POINT: There are playgrounds for the kids, a double gymnasium for fitness buffs, a yoga pavilion for the meditative, six different beaches for sun-worshippers, a four-boat boathouse for the nautical and golf cart paths for the intrepid but lazy (why walk when you can ride?)—suffice to say, there’s something for everyone.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: We suppose being on a private island could make you could feel trapped—although you could always just zip off on a golf cart to the next private beach.
BY THE NUMBERS: • $13,900,000 • $29,042.00 in taxes (2012) • 15.78 acres • 13 bedrooms • 7 buildings • 6 beaches • 4 boat slips • 1 yoga pavilion • 1 tennis court • 1 exercise centre • 1 private island getaway
