The Cottage At Windermere

THE COTTAGE AT WINDERMERE

I HAVE LIVED IN THREE AMAZING LAKESIDE COTTAGES IN MY LIFE. THE FIRST ONE, WAS ON ALPORT BAY, OF LAKE MUSKOKA, ON THE EXTENSION OF BEAUMONT DRIVE, IN BRACEBRIDGE. THE SECOND, WAS IN A MINIATURE ENGLISH MANOR HOUSE, CALLED "SEVEN PERSONS COTTAGE," AT FOOTES BAY, LAKE JOSEPH, AND THEN FINALLY, AT THE COTTAGE SAM STRIPP BUILT, ACROSS THE CHANNEL OF LAKE ROSSEAU'S "WELLSLEY ISLAND." IT'S WHERE SUZANNE AND I SPENT OUR WEDDING NIGHT, THAT BLESSED OCCASION BACK IN SEPTEMBER 1983. IT WAS A TRADITIONAL MUSKOKA COTTAGE-TYPE ABODE, EXCEPT THAT IT HAD BEEN BUILT AS A HOME BY HER GRANDFATHER SAM STRIPP, CIRCA 1914. IT SAT UP ON A ROCK FACE, ABOVE THE CHANNEL, AND FROM THE VERANDAH, IT WAS A TRULY INSPIRING VIEW ONTO THE LAKE AND ISLAND. I USED TO ENJOY SITTING IN THE SMALL "SUN ROOM," FILLED WITH NAUTICAL MEMORABILIA, AND IN THE EVENINGS, I WOULD HUNKER DOWN IN FRONT OF THE STONE FIREPLACE IN THE LIVINGROOM, AND MAKE MY COPIOUS NOTES ABOUT COTTAGE LIFE. I WROTE HUNDREDS OF MUSKOKA SUN FEATURE COLUMNS, SITTING BY THAT HEARTH, IN A CHAIR ROBERT STILL HAS IN HIS ROOM TODAY. IT WAS A SOLID HOUSE, BUILT BY CAPABLE HANDS, AND IT WAS DEARLY LOVED BY NORM AND HARRIET THAT'S FOR SURE. BUT AT A TIME WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ENJOY SUMMERS AT THE COTTAGE, HARRIET WAS SERIOUSLY ILL, WITH NO CHANCE OF RECOVERY. SHE WOULD COME OVER TO THE COTTAGE TO HOST A FAMILY BARBECUE, BUT SHE NEEDED HOME COMFORTS AT THAT STAGE OF HER ILLNESS. THE STRIPP FAMILY HOME WAS IN THE VILLAGE, ABOUT FIVE MINUTES WEST OF THE COTTAGE.

THE REASON I BRING THE COTTAGE UP, IS NOT TO BRAG ABOUT THE FAMILY I MARRIED INTO, BUT TO QUALIFY OURSELVES GENERALLY, AS ANTIQUE DEALER / COLLECTORS, WHO ARE REASONABLY WELL VERSED IN MUSKOKA LIVING, BY PROFOUNDLY DEEP IMMERSION. SUZANNE AND I SPENT MANY INCREDIBLE DAYS, IN THOSE FEW YEARS BEFORE THE KIDS ARRIVED, HOLED-UP AT THE STRIPP COTTAGE, LOUNGING ON THE BOATHOUSE DOCK, WATCHING THE PARADE OF OLD MAHOGANY BOATS GO UP AND DOWN THE CHANNEL. SUZANNE WAVING TO MOST OF THEM, AS THE OWNERS WERE, AT THAT TIME, VERY FAMILIAR WITH HER FATHER AND MOTHER, FROM BOTH THE MARINA DAYS, AND OF COURSE, AS NEIGHBOR COTTAGERS.

"DAD REFINISHED THAT ONE," SHE'D SAY. "YUP, THAT ONE TOO." WHEN A LITTLE STEAM YACHT WENT CHUGGING BY, AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, "HE REFINISHED THAT ONE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO." IT WAS CONSTANT, AND I WAS ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT OF IT. I'D NEVER BEEN SO INVOLVED IN LOCAL HISTORY, EVEN AS DIRECTOR OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM. THIS WAS BY FAR, MY OWN MOST INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP, WITH THE MARINE, COTTAGE HERITAGE OF MUSKOKA. I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN HAPPIER. IT WAS OBVIOUS, SUZANNE WANTED TO LIVE AT THE COTTAGE…..FOREVER. IT'S NOT THAT WE DIDN'T TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS, AND EVEN WENT AS FAR AS PRICING INSULATION IMPROVEMENTS, AND A SNOWMOBILE TO GET US IN THROUGH THE WINTER. WE WERE JUST CRAZY NEWLYWEDS, AND HARRIET LET US KNOW IT WOULDN'T WORK, CONSIDERING THE KIND OF LIVES WE WERE LIVING AT THE TIME. SUZANNE A FLEDGLING TEACHER, ME, AN EDITOR WITH WILD HOURS. WE OFTEN PONDER THE "WHAT IFS" AND SPECULATE ON WHERE WE WOULD BE TODAY, HAD WE FOLLOWED THROUGH WITH THE IDEA OF LIVING IN THE COTTAGE OVER THE WINTER. "YOU'D NEVER HAVE MADE IT TED," SAYS SUZANNE. "YOU WOULD HAVE DIED WITHOUT CABLE TELEVISION. WE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION TO BUY A SENSIBLE HOUSE, A SHORT DRIVE TO WHERE WE WORKED." OF COURSE SHE WAS RIGHT. HARRIET WAS RIGHT. NORM NEVER OFFERED AN OPINION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. HE KNEW HIS DAUGHTER WOULDN'T LET IMAGINARY SPLENDOR GET IN THE WAY OF SENSIBLE PROPORTION. I'D HAVE HAVE TREED A SNOWMOBILE, I CAN TELL YOU THAT…….LONG BEFORE I EITHER FELL THROUGH THE ICE, OR WAS LOST IN A BLIZZARD, BURIED SOMEWHERE IN THE PASTURE OF THE LONGHURST FARM…..BETWEEN WINDERMERE AND THE COTTAGE.

I HAVE A LOT OF REMINISCENCES ABOUT OUR SUMMER LIVING AT THE COTTAGE. WE LIVED THERE WITH ANDREW AND ROBERT, FOR THREE MONTHS IN THE LATE SUMMER AND EARLY AUTUMN OF 1989, JUST BEFORE MOVING HERE TO BIRCH HOLLOW, IN GRAVENHURST. BUT AS I'VE HALF-CONVINCED SUZANNE TO RE-TELL HER FAMILY'S WINDERMERE / LAKE ROSSEAU HISTORY, I'M GOING TO LEAVE THIS ASPECT OF OUR HERITAGE EXPERIENCES, FOR HER TO PRESENT LATER THIS YEAR, ON THIS BLOGSITE.

IF YOU ASKED SUZANNE, OR MY BOYS, ANDREW OR ROBERT, WHAT IT HAS BEEN LIKE LIVING WITH A WRITER /HISTORIAN…..ANTIQUE DEALER, FOR ALL THESE YEARS, THEY'D GET PRETTY ANIMATED, TRYING TO SORT OUT THE TUMBLE OF WORDS BANGING ABOUT THEIR MINDS. EACH COULD WRITE A "WAR AND PEACE" SIZED TEXT ABOUT "LIFE WITH FATHER." WHEN IT COMES TO NORM STRIPP HOWEVER, IT IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT. WHEN HE WENT TO WORK, OFTEN NOT MORE THAN THIRTY OR FORTY STEPS TO THE BACK OF THE HOUSE, OR DOWN FROM THE COTTAGE VERANDAH, HE KEPT TO HIMSELF….OR CONVERSED WITH HIS HELPERS IF HE HAD ANY AT THE TIME. HIS WAS NOT A PUBLIC-DISPLAY EXISTENCE. NO SHOWMANSHIP, NO GRANDSTANDING, NO PUBLIC SPEAKING VENUES, TO TALK ABOUT THE MARINE INDUSTRY. HE KEPT TO HIS WORK SCHEDULE, AND DID NOT LIKE DISTRACTION……AND I WAS THE BIG "D". AS SUZANNE AND I WERE LEADING VERY PUBLIC LIVES, AND INVOLVED IN A LOT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS /MEDIA EVENTS, WE GOT USED TO MIXING IT UP ON THE LOCAL SOCIAL SCENE. WHEN SUZANNE'S FATHER DID THIS, ON RARE OCCASIONS, IT WAS ALWAYS AS "LION NORM," WORKING ON COMMUNITY SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE WINDERMERE AND DISTRICT LIONS CLUB. HE DIDN'T CARRY THE "BOAT REFINISHER" THING AROUND LIKE A BADGE OF HONOR. IT'S JUST WHAT HE DID AS A PROFESSION. NOTHING FANCY. NOTHING SPECIAL. AND HE CERTAINLY NEVER BRAGGED ABOUT BEING THE BEST AT THIS PROFESSION. NOT ONCE. IN FACT, IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW HIM, IT WOULD TAKE WEEKS OF DIALOGUE TO GET HIM TO ADMIT HE WORKED ON THE RESTORATION OF VINTAGE MAHOGANY BOATS. EVEN THOUGH HE WAS WELL KNOWN, AND RESPECTED, AMONGST BOAT OWNERS AND LOCAL MARINE HISTORIANS, MANY OF THEM WEALTHY COTTAGERS AROUND THE MUSKOKA LAKES; YOU'D NEVER KNOW IT BY HIS DEMEANOR. HE WOULD SOONER TALK ABOUT HOCKEY OR LIONS PROJECTS THAN WHAT HE WORKED ON, IN HIS SHED. THIS IS WHAT SUZANNE NOW REALIZES NEEDS TO BE RECTIFIED, EVEN FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS GRANDSONS, AND THEIR EVENTUAL FAMILIES. WHEN SHE SEES ANDREW WORKING ON A VINTAGE GUITAR, SO PATIENTLY HANDLING THE INTRICATE REPAIRS, OFTEN HAVING TO BE MADE THROUGH THE SMALL SOUND HOLE OF A HOLLOW-BODY ACOUSTIC, I'M SURE SHE SEE TRACES OF HER OWN FATHER…..AS HE CAREFULLY INSERTED A REPLACEMENT BOARD IN AN ELEGANT OLD MUSKOKA BOAT.