As the Glitterati see us!!

Article in the International Herald Tribune

Into Canada's woods: Hollywood
By Denny Lee The New York Times
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2005

MUSKOKA, Canada Just two hours north of Toronto, Muskoka is a region of lakes and jutting granite cliffs that recalls the breathtaking vistas of the Adirondacks. More recently, however, it has begun to feel more like Malibu, as film stars and the very rich erect trophy homes along its pristine shoreline.
Never heard of Muskoka? You're not the only one. Scott Wittman, the lyricist for the Broadway musical "Hairspray," hadn't either, until the comedian Martin Short invited him up this summer. "It's a little bit of Hollywood up here," said Wittman, a Manhattan resident, who spent a month writing and swimming at Short's cottage on Lake Rosseau.
"It's like Golden Pond. You almost expect Katharine Hepburn to come around the corner at any moment."
Or at least Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg - all either own cottages in Muskoka or visit often.
The celebrity appeal is not hard to appreciate. Encompassing an area about the size of Rhode Island, Muskoka is clustered around three big lakes - Muskoka, Joseph and Rosseau - that are carved into the Canadian Shield and framed by a dense canopy of hemlocks, pines and maples. With a galaxy of private islands and thousands of kilometers of glacial shoreline, Muskoka is "beautiful and secluded, with palatial homes for the Canadian superwealthy that fit the Hollywood model elegantly," said Noah Cowan, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival, which ended Saturday. "People come to the festival, then hang out in Muskoka."
Hockey players (this is Canada, after all) huddle here. "Every single member of the Toronto Maple Leafs has a place in Muskoka," Stephen Levine, 45, a Toronto accountant who owns a cottage in the area, said with slight exaggeration.
And if this were an episode of MTV's "Cribs," the vehicle segment would not focus on Bentleys but on torpedo-shaped speedboats, mahogany racers and GPS-guided seaplanes. "You don't see sailboats or canoes anymore," said Bob Topp, 71, a fourth-generation Muskokan who lives in Toronto. "The new people are anxious to show off their wealth."
But not all the money is new. Captains of Canadian industry like the Labatts, Bronfmans and Eatons have spent summers here since the beginning of the 20th century. They were joined by Pittsburgh barons like Mellon and Carnegie, who built huge houses along a narrow channel on Lake Muskoka known as Millionaires Row.
The rest of Ontario's cottage country, however, remained middle-class. Torontonians of more modest means could afford a cabin on the lake. "Blue-collar guys could put away some money and buy a small place," said Steven Curry, a broker at ReMax Muskoka Realty.
But in the last decade, a new generation of millionaires arrived, buoyed by a hot Toronto economy, a real estate boom and Muskoka's newfound cachet as a retreat for the rich and famous. Small cottages were snapped up, torn down and replaced with oversize facsimiles.
"We couldn't afford our cottage anymore," said Pat Sinclair, 65, a retired nurse from Toronto, who sold her place last year after the property taxes rose to about $9,500 from about $2,500 in 1990.
"Everything now is high-end, high-end, high-end."
No amount of weathered shingles or barn wood flooring can obscure the fact that the age of McCottages has arrived in Muskoka.
"Everyone wants the Olde Muskoka look," said Jeff Buddo, a real estate agent from Chestnut Park Real Estate. "When people say they have a 'cottage' these days, what they really mean is 'mansion."'
There is little confusion, however, when it comes to price. In 1993, the average price of a house on the three lakes was about $225,000, according to the Muskoka & Halliburton Association of Realtors. That figure is now nearing $1 million, with top-end homes selling in excess of $4 million.
"All of Muskoka has become a Millionaires Row," said Anita Latner, a local real estate broker. "Muskoka is to Toronto what the Hamptons are to New York."
Except that in Muskoka, everyone is on sparkling blue lakes and the curb appeal is from a boat.
On a windy Friday afternoon, James Crowe, 40, an heir to a tire manufacturing fortune, offered a real estate cruise aboard his Sea Ray runabout. "See that boathouse?" Crowe said, pointing to a typical structure in the distance. As he got closer, the contours of a large green house came into view. "It's owned by some American worth $700 million, and nobody here knows or cares."
As he sped north, the cottages grew larger, the buffer between boathouses farther and the names more familiar. There were Kenny G's log cabin-style villa, on a private island, that Cindy Crawford rented this summer; the sprawling compound of Ted Rogers of Rogers Communications; the cliff-top cottage of Robert Lantos of Alliance Atlantis, the Canadian entertainment conglomerate; and the relatively modest getaway of Eric Lindros, the hockey star. "Here, at the top of Lake Joseph, it's called Billionaires Row," Crowe said.

The air of celebrity is so thick that the novelty may be wearing thin. "I've seen them at the grocery store, I've seen them at the marina, I've seen them playing golf," said Bob Schultz, a Toronto investor who has been coming to Muskoka for 35 years. "Nobody pays attention to them anymore."

Moving Kim and sporting highlights

Its Tuesday 20th of September and Isabel and I are driving a huge 22ft van to King City to close up the house. We were suppoed to get a 16ft one but it didn't come back from a prior rental.
22ft is long and you sit up so high. But we managed. We even backed it into the little driveway. The roof of the van stood level with the roof. It took us 2.5 hours, starting from scratch, to more or less clear out the house - not bad. We then dropped off the stuff Kim wanted at her Orilla flat (with the help of her house mates, indeed sje didn't arrive until it was almost all done!) We got home at 8.15 and Jamie and his cousin helped us unload. Altogether a successful trip.

Meanwhile Julia's basketball team is turning into a comedy centered around an ego-obsessed drama queen. She is really something. Luckily the coach stood up to her and let it be known that such behavior is unacceptable - well done! Now they are complaining about the jersey's!

September has continued to be beautiful. The summer must have been one of the best on record. We are having a lull in the B&B as we move Kim, but that will stop as of the weekend.

We have decided to support Julia in the new skiing program. It comes down to a basic issue of timing - if she doesn't do it now it will be too late. But, it certainly has focused her mind on the need to manage her time, which is of course one of the primary learnings for athletes.

Kim played in her first golf tournament with Georgian. She hit 97 after some basic mistakes. Assume she will improve and benefit from the tournament experience.

Julia First Day Grade 11 

Julia's Summer

Victoria, Switzerland, England and Elite skiing. Not a bad summer.
The Elite Ski Program was intended for us to find out what skill she has. Here is her coach Jason's note to us:

"ulia is a good skier with an excellent attitude and work ethic. It is difficult for me to predict the future results of athletes because there are always deviations from the norm. If I had to guess, right now ski is skiing to about 80 - 100 FIS points in both slalom and GS. This is very good for a 16 year old, but not on par with national team (US) juniors. Probably top 10% in age in Canada though. That being said...I believe that Julia truly loves skiing and with the right support systems in place could do very well in the next few years. "

Not bad for a girl who trains a day a week versus the national team who train at special academies for 6 days a week.

She seems to have had a ball all round.