Muskoka: The Malibu of the North
HERE is another reason to blame Canada. For years, movie
studios have been flocking to Toronto and Montreal to make films
on the cheap. But now Hollywood is outsourcing another resource
to the land of maple leaves and moose: celebrity second homes.
Just two hours north of Toronto, Muskoka is a region of lakes and
jutting granite cliffs that recalls the breathtaking vistas of the
Adirondacks. More recently, however, it has begun to feel more
like Malibu, as film stars and the very rich erect trophy homes
along its pristine shoreline.
Never heard of Muskoka? You're not the only one. Scott Wittman,
the lyricist for the Broadway musical "Hairspray," hadn't either,
until the comedian Martin Short invited him up this summer. "It's a
little bit of Hollywood up here," said Mr. Wittman, a Manhattan
resident, who spent a month writing and swimming at Mr. Short's
cottage on Lake Rosseau. "It's like Golden Pond. You almost
expect Katharine Hepburn to come around the corner at any
moment."
Or at least Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Tom Hanks or Steven
Spielberg - all either own cottages in Muskoka or visit often.
The celebrity appeal is not hard to appreciate. Encompassing an
area about the size of Rhode Island, Muskoka is clustered around
three big lakes - Muskoka, Joseph and Rosseau - that are carved
into the Canadian Shield and framed by a dense canopy of
hemlocks, pines and maples. With a galaxy of private islands and
thousands of miles of glacial shoreline, Muskoka is "beautiful and
secluded, with palatial homes for the Canadian superwealthy that
fit the Hollywood model elegantly," said Noah Cowan, co-director
of the Toronto International Film Festival, which ends tomorrow.
"People come to the festival, then hang out in Muskoka."
Hockey players (this is Canada, after all) huddle here. "Every
single member of the Toronto Maple Leafs has a place in
Muskoka," Stephen Levine, 45, a Toronto accountant who owns a
cottage in the area, said with slight exaggeration.
And if this were an episode of MTV's "Cribs," the vehicle segment
would not focus on Bentleys but on torpedo-shaped speedboats,
mahogany racers and G.P.S.-guided seaplanes. "You don't see
sailboats or canoes anymore," said Bob Topp, 71, a
fourth-generation Muskokan who lives in Toronto. "The new
people are anxious to show off their wealth."
But not all the money is new. Captains of Canadian industry like
the Labatts, Bronfmans and Eatons have spent summers here
since the beginning of the 20th century. They were joined by
Pittsburgh barons like Mellon and Carnegie, who built huge
houses along a narrow channel on Lake Muskoka known as
Millionaires Row.
The rest of Ontario's cottage country, however, remained
middle-class. Torontonians of more modest means could afford a
cabin on the lake. "Blue-collar guys could put away some money
and buy a small place," said Steven Curry, a broker at ReMax
Muskoka Realty.
But in the last decade, a new generation of millionaires arrived,
buoyed by a hot Toronto economy, a real estate boom and
Muskoka's newfound cachet as a retreat for the rich and famous.
Small cottages were snapped up, torn down and replaced with
oversize facsimiles.
"We couldn't afford our cottage anymore," said Pat Sinclair, 65, a
retired nurse from Toronto, who sold her place last year after the
property taxes rose to about $9,500 from about $2,500 in 1990.
"Everything now is high-end, high-end, high-end."
For anyone casually acquainted with Muskoka, what passes for a
cottage these days may come as quite a shock. Take the home of
Kevin and Linda O'Leary, a couple from Boston who built a
cottage on Lake Joseph five years ago. Now, rising like a wedding
cake from the lakeshore, is a periwinkle-blue structure with white
trim, wraparound cedar decks, three boat slips and a second-floor
sun deck that is larger than some marinas here.
And that is just the boathouse.
Behind it, perched on a huge slab of pink-and-gray granite, is the
9,000-square-foot main house with seven bedrooms, four stone
fireplaces, a wine cellar carved into the native rock and a lofty
sweep of terraces.
"This is a very typical room in Muskoka," Ms. O'Leary, 41, said
during a tour of her cottage earlier this month. The room had
30-foot cathedral ceilings and a wet bar. In a restaurant-grade
kitchen, a staff of three was preparing sweetbreads and lobster for
17 people, including colleagues from her husband's former
software company. "I wanted this to have a country cottage feel,"
she said.
No amount of weathered shingles or barn wood flooring however,
can obscure the fact that the age of McCottages has arrived in
Muskoka. "Everyone wants the Olde Muskoka look," said Jeff
Buddo, a real estate agent from Chestnut Park Real Estate.
"When people say they have a 'cottage' these days, what they
really mean is 'mansion.' "
There is little confusion, however, when it comes to price. In 1993,
the average price of a house on the three lakes was about
$225,000, according to the Muskoka & Halliburton Association of
Realtors. That figure is now nearing $1 million, with some prices
exceeding $4 million.
"All of Muskoka has become a Millionaires Row," said Anita Latner,
a real estate broker. "Muskoka is to Toronto what the Hamptons
are to New York."
Except that in Muskoka, everyone is on sparkling blue lakes and
the curb appeal is from a boat. On a windy Friday afternoon,
James Crowe, 40, an heir to a tire manufacturing fortune, offered
a real estate cruise aboard his 27-foot-long Sea Ray runabout.
"See that boathouse?" Mr. Crowe said, pointing to a typical
structure in the distance. As he got closer, the contours of a large
green house came into view. "It's owned by some American worth
$700 million, and nobody here knows or cares."
As he sped north, the cottages grew larger, the buffer between
boathouses farther and the names more familiar. There were
Kenny G's log cabin-style villa, on a private island, that Cindy
Crawford rented this summer; the sprawling compound of Ted
Rogers of Rogers Communications; the cliff-top cottage of Robert
Lantos of Alliance Atlantis, the Canadian entertainment
conglomerate; and the relatively modest getaway of Eric Lindros,
the hockey star.
"Here, at the top of Lake Joseph, it's called Billionaires Row," Mr.
Crowe said. [NYTimes]
