2020
Fairy Island Revisited
This is the boathouse and cottage on Fairy Island. Avern Pardoe the Parlimentry Librarian in Ottawa purchased 50 acres on Lake Joseph for $5 per acre in 1895. It included Fairy Island. It would become the Pardoe family summer residence for over 100 years. The family eventually could not keep up with the costs of upkeep, property taxes and sold the island to the late Richard Ivy somewhere around 2005. There were many interested purchasers but the family decided on Richard Ivys offer as he had no interest in tearing it down. The Ivy family property is near by and looks over to Fairy Island. Please see my recent post about Loon Island.
I’ve been keeping a watch on this magical little island for over 10 years now. Unfortunately it’s slowly deteriorating and I suspect some day I’ll come by and it will be gone for ever. The boathouse and docks shown here in an earlier photo were severely damaged by the high water and ice a few years ago. They are both gone now and only the cottage remains tucked into the trees.
I made a Blog post about Fairy Island back in 2014 and much to my surprise I received quite a few interesting comments including ones from the Pardoe family. You can see how endearing a place it was and the beautiful memories shared at Fairy Island here.
In: boathouses of muskoka, historic muskoka, in and around muskoka ontario, on the water
2014
Fairy Island
I have been cruising around Lake Joseph for the past decade or so always discovering interesting places. I find Lake Joe to have a lot of hidden areas especially the islands once you get towards the north end of the lake. I believe if my coordinates are right this place is Fairy Island. Waterfront property is very expensive in Muskoka and you don’t often find places that are boarded up like this one. I suspect some time in the future we will see this place refreshed to something more beautiful.
In: boathouses of muskoka, in and around muskoka ontario, on the water
2019
Drifting Amongst the October Sky
It has been a little chilly on the lake especially traveling around by Seadoo. If you layer up it is not too bad and the trade-off of being the only one on the lake is so worth it. I’ve visited this little outcropping on Lake Joseph a few times in the past. It is near the old abandoned Fairy Island cottage. I get close and just shut off the machine and drift into the rocks. There wasn’t a soul around except for me and a few seagulls. It is so peaceful in a therapeutic sort of way to just sit and take it all in. I included a cropped version and the original full framed photo taken with a Nikon D700 and the 10-24mm wide-angled lens.
In: in and around muskoka ontario, on the water, uncategorized
2018
Nobody Loves Me Anymore
I posted this photo of a run down boathouse over on my Instagram account. It got quite a few comments from you Muskoka people who are out there and know whats going on. I have been watching this Lake Rosseau boathouse slowly deteriorate over the years. I would imagine with the cost of lake front property, taxes and low inventory that this property will be transformed into something new someday. You rarely see any old relics that are falling apart on the lake any more. Even the boathouse up on Fairy Island is gone now however the cottage still stands among the trees.
In: boathouses of muskoka, historic muskoka, in and around muskoka ontario, on the water
2016
Dark Clouds Rolling
Whoever is in charge of sunsets this season has done a remarkable job. On this particular night it appeared that we were going to get some well needed rain. I took off on my trusty Jetski and found these ominous clouds on Lake Joseph near Fairy Island.
By the way – I just started using Instagram and I’m finding it useful and fun to post photos on the go. You can follow me here and I will follow you back.
In: boathouses of muskoka, historic muskoka, in and around muskoka ontario, on the water
