Beautiful Boathouses of Muskoka

As much as I love the summer in Muskoka, the fall can be just as fabulous but in a totally different way.  Less heat, less people, less activity on the lakes and a great chance to sneak out and check out people's boathouses and cottages from the water without worrying about people being on their docks.

Boathouses in Muskoka come in all different sizes and colours.  We have been talking about rebuilding our cottage and the hardest part (other than the money :) will be picking a colour.

I love the way this one is positioned in between 2 large pieces of the amazing Canadian Shield which covers most of Muskoka.

The cottage to go with this boathouse looks like a lodge.  A friend of ours on the lake with a huge boathouse and cottage, was out tidying up the dock one day when a boat pulled up and threw him their line.  He very politely said "can I help you" and they said they were just going to pop up to the bar for a drink.  LOL I don't think so, this is a private residence.  

This little red one is my favourite :).  Have enjoyed many a glass of wine and beautiful sunset from this deck and looking to many more.  

This is one of the older boathouses on the lake, there are a number of boathouses we use for navigation, this one is on the way to the Lake Joesph Golf Course.

Millionaire's row is one of the tours you can take on the Segwun.  Most of the boathouses here are originals, this one has been painted white since the last time I saw it.  New visitors to our cottage always get a quick trip over to gawk at these amazing places.  You can picture the ladies in their long skirts and the nannies taking care of the children when the families of Toronto came up to Muskoka for the summer.  Gardeners, waiters in black and white roamed up and down the stairs and rocks taking mint juleps to the guests.  

It feels like there are more antique boats on Millionaire's row then there are at the boat show.  When Jim and I bought our first little boat, a used Edson, we were so excited.  The salesman told us that it was a great little buy, the man who sold it had 10 boathouse slips and had just bought an 11th boat so needed to get rid of one.  It was our lucky day.  

A 100 years ago, people came to Muskoka by train and then the steamships like the Segwun dropped them off at their cottages.  Driving soon took over, but now after sitting on the 400 for 2 hours people are starting to take their planes.  I'm not seeing a plane in my future so the cats and I will just have to make sure to not drive up on Fridays or Sundays.  Lucky us.

I hope you enjoy my little tour and very small sampling of beautiful Muskoka Boathouses.  :)