cottage wars

Real estate adventures in cottage country

Torontonians are duking it out for a little piece of lake. An inside look at the bidding wars, property battles, big winners and buying adventures in cottage country

A Burlington waitress won the lottery in 1996 and bought this Muskoka cottage for $335,000

Twenty-five years later, she sold it for $1.7 million

She listed her cottage for $399,000 and got 71 bids

Buyers showed up without an appointment. Six cars got stuck in the ditch. People were banging the door down. The winning bid? $777,777

This family ditched city life for a $900,000 house on Lake Simcoe

It needs some love, but there's room for everyone (three adults, two kids and a dog), and it backs right onto a canal

Two generations pooled their money to buy a $1 million cottage near North Bay

“We were wary of bidding without seeing the place in person, but we decided to go for it”

He went up to the Kawarthas early in the pandemic. Now he canoes to work

And by "work," we mean the Italian restaurant and bakery he launched in November

When the pandemic hit, this family snapped up a fixer-upper cottage on the Crowe River for $525,000

Now the kids play outside after school, instead of staring at their devices

“I’ve been in business for 32 years, and 2020 was the busiest year we’ve ever had”

Early in the pandemic, cottage country businesses were worried, but with Torontonians flocking north, business has been bonkers

These Toronto food purveyors are following their customers to cottage country

And they deliver dockside

“Covid-19 has caused a lot of economic hardship, but you wouldn’t know it up here”

Cottage country tradespeople are swamped

“Is it fair to ask our cottage neighbours to pay for repairs to our shared driveway?”

“I’ve been in the real estate game for decades. I’ve never seen anything like this”

Confessions of an awestruck cottage country realtor

The Bracebridge Library offers free Wi-Fi in its parking lot

Cathryn Rodney, chief librarian, on the sudden demand for broadband in cottage country

This plane flies Torontonians to cottage country in 40 minutes

The cost? Between $1,500 and $2,000 for up to five passengers