At the Water's Edge: Muskoka's Boathouses

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Boathouses are the ultimate symbol of summer in the Muskokas. They are
the essence of leisure and graciousness and of Ontario’s great
outdoors tamed for the convenience of the wealthy.

Since the turn of the century, the elite from Toronto and the northern
U.S. have tucked their luxurious summer homes in among Muskoka’s trees
and built equally impressive boathouses out over the water. These
adjuncts to cottage life tend toward the palatial, some massive enough
to shelter a fleet of boats of impressive footage and provide generous,
posh living quarters for a large family.

This is the fourth book on the Muskokas by the authors. Both are widely
published and de Visser is one of Canada’s best-known photographers.
In this book he adds shots of interiors that glow with warm light to the
landscapes and scenics for which he is best known. Although the emphasis
is on the boathouses, not the boats that call them home, the book
includes numerous photos of restored “antique” boats from the
pre–World War II era.

This spectacularly beautiful photographic tour of boathouse
construction, location, design, architecture, mood, style, and
furnishings is supported and complemented by Ross’s text. Her prose is
rich and evocative of the splendid settings and magical environment in
which these boathouses are situated. She gives lots of dates,
definitions, dimensions—all the concrete details that help to create a
sense of sharing an insider’s view of this exclusive world.