SPONSORED POST
According to an old saying among cottage country real estate agents, “They’re not making any more lakefront.”
True enough.
However, roughly 200 kilometres west of Ottawa near Barry’s Bay, developer Gary Medwid is selling 88 fully serviced lots on a largely undeveloped lake with a fascinating historical connection to Ottawa and an intriguing future.
Lakewoods is a 1,500-acre parcel of land with five kilometres of frontage on Bark Lake. In the 1840s, English-born entrepreneur James Skead canoed into the area and founded a lumber camp, which would eventually be home to some 150 workers.
Senator James Skead, the protagonist of our tale.
Back in Ottawa, Skead invested his lumber money in everything from steel mills to railways, raised prize cattle, became a city councillor and federal senator, and was just generally a Big Man About Town. The local gas company, canals, the Rideau Club, the Ottawa Board of Trade—you name it, Skead was probably involved in it. Then his business ventures hit the financial rocks in the late 1870s.
Depot Point on Bark Lake, which once hummed with lumberjack activity, was abandoned. The woods reclaimed it, and today little remains of those boom years but an old root cellar and some 19th-century tools. Fringed largely by Crown land, the lake has for decades been a bit of a secret to almost everybody but paddlers and campers exploring the Madawaska River system, which meanders across 230 kilometres between Algonquin Park and Arnprior. (For some cool historical stories about this region of Eastern Ontario, check out the Lakewoods blog.)
Sunset on Bark Lake.
Medwid sensed an opportunity to develop a family-oriented resort and provide steady jobs. The idea of Lakewoods was born.
The available lots include 42 two-acre lots on the lake, each with at least 200 feet of frontage, as well as 22 lots that will border a planned golf course. Buyers looking for room to roam can look at lots of up to 12 acres. And when it’s time to build the cottage of their dreams, Lakewoods Development offers a turnkey service, including design and engineering services, and assistance with municipal permits.
That’s just the start. Medwid also has plans for a boutique, four-season resort, the Lodge at Depot Pointe, including villas, suites and a restaurant; the aforementioned golf course; and, perhaps, an airstrip for private pilots. Homeowners will get city-style perks like garbage pickup and mail delivery. And the whole shebang will be accessible via a paved, four-season road.
The developers are hoping to build the Lodge at Depot Pointe on this scenic spot.
Intrigued? You’re not alone. Buyers from across Ontario—including Ottawa, Toronto and North Bay—have been steadily snapping up lots.
Lakewoods won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. If your idea of cottage country involves lots of chi-chi social bustle, you’re probably better off mortgaging yourself to the hilt and heading to Muskoka. But if your priority is kicking back with family and friends in a custom-designed home with a wilderness view—all just nine kilometres from the shops and services of Barry’s Bay—this might just be your new country retreat.
So here’s the bottom line: Lakefront lots start at $289,000. To find out more, visit the Lakewoods website.
This post has been reviewed, approved and sponsored by Lakewoods.
