Cottage of the Week: $13.9 million for a private island on Lake Muskoka

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