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Muskoka News

Muskoka cottage sales outperform in February

We have had a record cold winter here. Indeed the coldest Muskoka has been since 1934. It may be hard to imagine buying a cottage in Muskoka in the dead of February, but it is not at all uncommon. This remarkable performance may indicate a strong season for Muskoka cottage sales.

Residential non-waterfront sales activity recorded through the MLS® system of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS® numbered 92 units in February 2015. This was an increase of 17.9 per cent from February 2014 and marked an above average month of February.
Sales of waterfront properties, meanwhile, jumped 46.7 per cent from a year ago to 44 units in February 2015. This was a record for the month.
“While cottage sales don’t really get going until April or May, February’s record tally suggests this may be a very busy spring,” said Mike Stahls, President of Muskoka Haliburton Orillia – The Lakelands Association of REALTORS®. “Non-waterfront activity was also still doing quite well in February, just not quite as strong as it was in January. The bottom line is that the local housing market has had a record start to the year.”
The median price for residential non-waterfront property sales was $223,500 in February 2015, edging up 0.7 per cent from February 2014.
The median price for waterfront sales was $360,000 in February 2015, an increase of 19.8 per cent from February 2014.
The dollar value of all residential non-waterfront sales in February 2015 totalled $21.1 million, rising 15.0 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
The total value of waterfront sales was $24.3 million, rising 71.7 per cent from levels in February 2014. This was a record for the month of February.

musk_chart04_hi-resmusk_chart06_hi-res

cottage life

Cottage in Muskoka Blog, gallery of header images

For those who have more critical things to do than refresh our Blog Page just to see different header images, I have had a request to add a gallery page.  After all time is better spent looking at Muskoka cottages for sale.

Hey, thanks for the request, we like them too … and, here it is:

As we go about looking at Muskoka cottages for sale for our buyers, and listing cottages for sellers, we get some great comments about our images, design and videos. They are fun to share and with Muskoka as our backdrop, it’s pretty easy to look good.

Some are images taken throughout a lifetime of cottaging here in Muskoka. I am told I started at two weeks old, and at some point later the first sentence I put together was an excited and agitated “boy go boat!!!” when others were headed out while I was to be left in the care of my Grandmother.

Other pictures are taken of friends and clients’ cottage activities and, as mentioned above, as we go about searching for Muskoka cottages for sale (actually and potentially for sale), that fit both our ideals for value and the various specifics of our current group of buyers.

There are quite a few images, more or less suitable to headline the blog, and we have lots more in the archive. One that I had mostly forgotten was a photo of the ritual where I had convinced tried to convince our kids, that kissing fish you caught and were releasing was good luck. Somehow it would encourage the released fish to spread fairly positive communication about the entire event. I took the picture when I noticed with delight, that our daughter Lenore carried on the same tradition with her cousin Jordan. This turns out perhaps, to be something of an accepted practice of anglers around the globe. However, a Wikipedia search for kissing a fish, only brings up Kissing Gouramis .

Here’s a list of commercial fishing superstitions:

• Don’t leave a hatch cover upside down.
• Don’t whistle on board.
• Don’t bring a suitcase or a black bag on board.
• Don’t bring a banana on board.
• Don’t even wear yellow.
• Don’t allow women on board.
• Don’t leave port on a Friday.
• Don’t mention four-hooved animals (pigs, horses, etc.).
• Hang coffee mugs with the opening facing inboard.
• Don’t comment on good luck, or the possibility of bad luck.
• Dolphins are a good omen. Sharks are a bad omen.
• Don’t kill an albatross or a gull.
• Don’t change the name of a vessel.
• Leaving on Sunday is good luck.
• Don’t wear green. (It makes the boat seek land.)
• Don’t say “rabbit.” (No clue.)
• If you meet a minister before sailing, turn around and go home.
• Hang garlic over the galley port hole.
• Don’t use blue paint (particularly on a lobster boat).
• Don’t wear a hat in the galley.
• Don’t step onto a boat with your left foot.
• Don’t coil a rope or stir a pot counter-clockwise.
• Don’t bring an umbrella on board.
• Don’t make pea soup.
• Toss the first fish back. (Or kiss it.)
• Don’t use the number 13.
• Turn starboard first after backing away from the dock.
• Don’t bring honeybears on board.
• Having a virgin pee on a new net is good luck.

(Courtesy of Matthew Hutson,  article here.)

Listing

** Now Sold!** Muskoka Golf Villa For Sale

Listed for sale in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada is the jewel of the Muskoka Bay Club Villas. Stunning villa and property; great entertaining, gorgeous views down and across the 12th fairway including toward a large pond. Total privacy and those great views in second floor balcony hot tub. Beautifully appointed three bedroom, four bathroom villa, with many inclusions. Gorgeous landscaping, quintessential Muskoka lifestyle in a clubhouse environment overlooking the award winning, Carrick designed golf course. Fully finished lower level. Muskoka golf, and living, at its finest!

Muskoka golf villaSold
Jewel of The Muskoka Bay Club$775,000

**Now Sold!**Muskoka Golf Villa For Sale, Muskoka Bay Club

86 CARRICK TRAIL
Gravenhurst, ST

  • 3Beds
  • 3Baths
  • 3200Square Feet

Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Muskoka Lakes Association, Muskoka News, Port Carling

Muskoka Lakes Association March NewsBites

We are almost there – part of the way through March. Lots of snow, ice and cold, but things will look very different in just a few weeks. Here from the Muskoka Lakes Association is the March NewsBites.

Courtesy of the Muskoka Lakes Association

Welcome to March 2015 NewsBites

The MLA is pleased to inform our members that we will be presenting the MLA’s 2014 Water Quality Initiative Report to Bracebridge, Sequin, Gravenhurst, and Township of Muskoka Lakes councillors over the next two months. Water Quality Director Andrew Watson presented our Continue reading Muskoka Lakes Association March NewsBites →

Muskoka News

Muskoka Lakes Association February NewsBites

Here from the Muskoka Lakes Association is the February NewsBites.

Courtesy of the Muskoka Lakes Association

Welcome to February 2015 NewsBites

The MLA is pleased to announce that our President, Michael Hart, has met with Township of Muskoka Lakes Mayor Don Furniss, Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith, Seguin Township Mayor Bruce Gibbon and District Chair John Klinck. These meetings provided an opportunity for our President to discuss current issues of concern and interest to the MLA and to provide an update on MLA activities. Michael is looking forward to meeting Gravenhurst Mayor Paisley Donaldson in the coming weeks. The MLA looks forward to continued congenial open relations with all District of Muskoka elected officials.

The MLA reminds all our seasonal residents to reserve Monday February 9th, 7 to 9 p.m. to attend the Township of Muskoka Lakes’ (TML) Community Input Strategic Plan meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3201 Highway #7, Vaughan. Your input is critical to the formation of TML’s 4-year Strategic Plan. TML Mayor and TML District Councillors want to hear what you value most about Muskoka. As well, don’t forget to fill out TML’s on-line survey to provide you input to the Strategic Plan. The press release can be found here.

DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA

Sale of a Portion of Airport Lands – At the January 19th District Council meeting, Council held a very passionate debate on whether to sell, or lease, a parcel of land at the Muskoka Airport. In the end, Council voted 13 to 9 to sell the airport lands. Selling the land and receiving confirmed Provincial and Federal government redevelopment funding and resulting creation of local jobs won out over annual revenue from leasing the land. By selling this land, the development potential for an east/west runway is lost along with any future economic development potential on those lands. District CAO Michael Dubin stated that the District typically sells land versus leasing it and that it will still retain first right of refusal to repurchase the land. Lake of Bays Mayor Bob Young called the vote to sell the airport lands “a tragedy”. For that story click here. Although the MLA supports increased job opportunities in Muskoka, an agreed upon, long-term strategic plan would have been helpful prior to this decision.

Bala Falls Entrance Permits Update – Swift River was before District Public Works committee asking for some minor wording changes to the conditions of their entrance permits. It was noted that Swift River has had difficulty obtaining a Performance Bond. Several delegates spoke about risk management and the importance of setting substantial financial securities in place in the unfortunate event something happened to the District’s assets in Bala; namely on District Hwy #169 and the bridge. A representative from the Wahta Mohawks reminded the committee that the government’s Duty to Consult had not yet been fulfilled. As such they requested the entrance permits be stayed until this has occurred. As their letter stated, “It would be most unfortunate for all should Wahta Mohawks find themselves in a position in the future where there are negative impacts caused by this potential development and we are forced to seek legal redress due to lack of adequate consultation.” Committee resolved to change the Performance Bond to a Letter of Credit for no less than $2 million dollars. This issue will be coming back to District Council for approval later this month. The MLA continues to support the District in taking extra care to ensure District assets are protected. The MLA

MLA NewsBites Page 1

Continue reading Muskoka Lakes Association February NewsBites →

Muskoka cottage life, Muskoka Lakes, Muskoka Lakes Association, owning a cottage

Muskoka Lakes Association January NewsBites

1 Comment

As a cottager, I always found news from Muskoka warming this time of year. So here from the Muskoka Lakes Association is January NewsBites.

Courtesy of the Muskoka Lakes Association

Welcome to January 2015 NewsBites

The MLA reminds everyone to check their cottages and homes regularly during the winter season. The Muskoka area has received well over four feet of snow in the last few weeks and we encourage you to ensure your roofs are shovelled. It’s always good to routinely check your property. If you are unable to make the trip to Muskoka, there are many service Continue reading Muskoka Lakes Association January NewsBites →

Muskoka Activities, Muskoka cottage life, Muskoka News, Muskoka Summit on the Environment, Muskoka Watershed Council

2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment

I am a volunteer in Muskoka. As well as being on the executive of the Muskoka Watershed Council, I am also  the videographer/video editor. This gives me a great opportunity to ensure that truly wonderful ideas and presentations are not lost after the words are spoken and the video projector is turned off. I record, edit and post to our YouTube channel, lectures and presentations at Muskoka Watershed Council events.

Kai Chan from the University of British Columbia presents the 3rd lecture from the 2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment. On June 8th and 9th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (here’s the 2014 Muskoka Summit CBC broadcast), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment
CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment

Kai’s engaging presentation: Towards a Future Both Better and Wilder: Harmony Through Small-Planet Ethics.

It is time for small-planet ethics, wherein we treat our planet as we do our house and home.

The question, of course, is how to enable such behavior. The answer—to be elaborated—lies in unlocking the immense potential of human ingenuity and compassion, and the filtering the current cacophony of competing noise. Enable people and organizations to contribute simply and enjoyably—but meaningfully—to a future both better and wilder, and they will.

Copyright © 2014 cottageinmuskoka.ca, All rights reserved.

 

Boats, cottage life, Muskoka Lakes Association, Port Carling, steamships

The Age of Elegance. Muskoka Lakes Association Antique Boat Show – This Saturday

Not to be missed is this wonderful show at the Port Carling locks. From the MLA:

The Age of Elegance – Saturday August 9, 2014 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Old photographs of life in Muskoka are irresistible. Whether you see them at the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre in Gravenhurst or are lucky enough to have peaked into to a friend’s old family album, the images take you back to a dreamy time – graceful old cottages, beautiful mahogany launches, sporty little gentlemen’s racers, and men and women dressed in their finery. What was it like to live in the “Age of Elegance”?

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A few of the cottages in those photos have been maintained and can be seen today on parts of the Muskoka Lakes. Not so visible are many wooden boats, several approaching their centennial, hidden away in boathouses around the lakes. Mostly they were built right here in Muskoka for Muskoka cottagers. They may have been bought and sold, but they stayed in Muskoka accumulating history as integral parts of summer life for the generations that interacted with them.

The MLA Antique Boat Show is a bi-annual event held in Port Carling and sponsored by the Muskoka Lakes Association.  It was started in 1971 by the late Bob Purves to honour boats that have been built in Muskoka or have spent most of their life in Muskoka Waters.

Come out and enjoy a day with these fine craft and their owners along with displays including vintage outboard motors, seafleas and antique Buicks from the 1920’s. One of our presenting sponsors will also be bringing a brand new Bugatti Vitesse that will be on display for all to see.  It’s not very often a million dollar car comes to Muskoka!

The Show is on Saturday August 9 and runs from 10 AM until 4 PM at the Port Carling locks. Admission is free.

This event would not be possible without our presenting sponsors; Grand Touring Automobiles, Northfield Capital, Purves Redmond Insurance Brokers and Walker’s Point Marina.

 

Listing

NOW SOLD! Cottage in Muskoka For Sale. Income waterfront.

We have a waterfront listing in Port Carling – on Mirror Lake at the top of Lake Muskoka. This cottage in Muskoka property comes with a 3 bedroom home, a small cottage, and a waterfront building with 3, 1 Bedroom rental units and long-term tenants.

cottage in muskoka
3 bedroom home circa 1916

The property features a lovely historic home in downtown Port Carling, on Mirror Lake. This home was built in 1916 and pulled across Mirror Lake in the winter of 1928 – well that’s the story as we heard it. But, here’s a fascinating update on the history of the house thanks to a book given to us by our friend Ian Turnbull of Port Carling.

From Indian River Tales, Compiled by: Anne Duke Judd (ISBN 0-9698716-4-3):
The Moving of Heart’s Content

The old Heart’s Content was built around 1916 at Indian point. In early spring, around 1928 it was put onto two scows, using horses and the high water to help.
Cribwork on the scows kept it level at the old elevation; the scows were borrowed from one of the lumber companies, and Alan Dixon was in charge of the operation.
One scow sprang a leak, and since there was no electrical power at the point, it had to be hand pumped all night. Art Duke and others took turns keeping the pump going.

The next day they set off across the river, but about halfway across Mirror Lake, the steering mechanism on the Vedette broke, and she had to be taken up to Port for repairs. The wind blew the skows and house down to Arcadia point. The center timber caught on trees along the river bank and pulled out – fortunately, the two outside timbers stayed secure and the house remained level.

A second time, the men attach the scows to the Vedette, and pulled their cargo close to its new site on the eastern shore. But because the boat could not tow it from the front, the lines had to be untied while the Vedette manoeuvered to the stern to push it in.

Again, the house got away, the wind blowing it ashore at Schreibers’. By the time it was securely tied at the proper place on the shore, daylight was gone. There was electricity on this side, but it was not very reliable then, so the electric pump was left running overnight.

The next morning, Heart’s Content was moved ashore, and lowered – one crib timber at a time – onto its site at the bottom of Silver Creek Hill.

Here it remained the home of Arthur and ‘Did’ Duke (nee Elizabeth McCulley) and their sons Thomas and Reay until 1948, when the couples retirement home was built. The sign still identifies that home, now the residence of Rev. Tom Duke and his wife Charlotte.

Tom’s main memory of the house moving is the disappointment he felt that having to go to school, and missed the excitement of the move.

Muskoka cottages for sale
Photo of Heart’s Content on scows with cribwork and the Vendette.

Walk from the property to restaurants, shopping, locks, museum. Three bedrooms, two full baths provide plenty of room.

Guest cottage in Muskoka and 3 unit apartment building.
Cottage and 3 unit apartment building.

Three unit apartment at the water allows for extra income. Each unit has one bedroom, one bath. Cabin and storage shed round out the picture. Views are lovely, and this popular location just makes it all the more appealing. Let us know when you’d like to come and see it.

View out into Mirror Lake from cottage in Muskoka.
View of docks and out into Mirror Lake.

You’ll find more details in the listing here, and I just added a virtual tour below.

Copyright © 2014 cottageinmuskoka.ca, All rights reserved.