2831 Ridge Rd. W., Oro-Medonte Township
What: A country estate with a stone house set on 10 acres on Lake Simcoe's Kempenfelt Bay. The property has a 12,000-square-foot main house, a coach house and a two-storey boathouse with living quarters above.
Asking price: $15-million
Taxes: $24,388.00
Agent: Bernice Whelan, Bernice Whelan Realty Inc.
When Greg Bell declared to his wife that he had found an inspiration for their future house on Kempenfelt Bay, she wasn't happy to learn that he was talking about the golf club he had recently joined.
But a few days later the couple sat down to dinner at the Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont. Under the vaulted ceilings of the clubhouse, his wife agreed that the architect had created the comfortable ambience of a European lodge where she, too, could feel at home.
Soon afterward, the couple called on Stephen McCasey, the architect of the Magna clubhouse, and asked him to design a house in a similar style at their property on the shore of Lake Simcoe.
The couple purchased the land in 2004 after parcels were severed from a historic 57-acre estate known as Woodlands.
The property is in the township of Oro-Medonte on the north shore of Kempenfelt Bay, just outside Barrie.
"You want to be on the north shore so you get the sun," Mr. Bell says of the property's position.
The couple asked Mr. McCasey for a house that was traditional, luxurious and reminiscent of a French country château.
"I told him I'd like to build timeless, classic architecture," Mr. Bell says.
It took three years to complete the house, which has an exterior of Indiana limestone with a cedar shingle roof and copper downpipes.
Inside, guests congregate in the great room, which has a cathedral ceiling, two wood-burning fireplaces and a wall of windows overlooking the lake. French doors lead to the patio and lawns that slope down to the water. The combined dining and living room allows the couple to hold large dinner parties in comfort.
An expansive kitchen has a centre island and a semi-circular breakfast area with bow windows. Beside the kitchen, a large screened porch provides a place to lounge, barbecue and eat.
The library has walls panelled in wood from butternut trees.
"It's hard to get. That's what we learned during the construction," Mr. Bell says of the butternut.
The large master-bedroom wing on the main floor has his-and-hers walk-in closets, a large bedroom with a bay window, and an oval-shaped bathroom with a freestanding tub, walk-in shower and marble floor.
Mr. Bell says that shaping the marble to fit the curves of the room was a painstaking and expensive job.
"I wouldn't recommend making anything oval after having been through the experience," he says.
The lower level has a large recreation room and a media room with sloping floor and theatre-style seats for watching films on the screen. There is an exercise room, sauna, climate-controlled wine cellars for red and white vintages, and a wine tasting room. "It's probably big enough for even the most serious wine connoisseur," Mr. Bell says of the space for laying down bottles.
The younger members of the family have their own wing with a separate entrance, two bedrooms, two ensuite bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room with doors opening to a balcony.
The double boathouse also offers guest quarters above, with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and screened porch.
Outside, the couple had 356 feet of shoreline to work with on the sloping property. The landscaped area surrounding the house gives way to acres of woods and a more naturalized waterfront. Between the house and the water's edge is the in-ground pool with an infinity edge and waterfall. The pool's interior makes the water appear to be the same deep blue as the lake water.
"I was very purposeful with the pool because of the elevation change," Mr. Bell says. "I wanted you to be able to stand at the window of any room in the house and think the water is flowing into the lake."
The property has a tennis court and the two docks accommodate several boats.
Mr. Bell can monitor various areas of the property via cameras integrated with the security system. The lighting and climate controls are also high-tech, with five separate systems for heating and cooling throughout the house.
Mr. Bell enjoys the fact that his property is carved from one of the area's original estates. His great-grandfather was a gardener on another of the historic properties.
Today, the area still seems sparsely populated. "We're a mile outside of Barrie, and it's so rural," he says.
Nearby, at the original Woodlands house, owner Cathy Porter has gradually been restoring the mansion built in 1867 by the timber baron Richard Powers.
At one time the property was owned by Major Arthur Peuchen, who later survived the sinking of the Titanic. The military man became famous after the disaster when critics charged that he should not have boarded a lifeboat filled with women and children. But the major defended his actions by saying that the vessel needed an experienced hand.
While Major Peuchen owned a large house in Toronto, he always considered Woodlands his home.
Because of that connection to the Titanic, Ms. Porter has commissioned a painted mural of the ship and its story on the domed ceiling of Woodlands.
She says she's glad that the two lots that were severed from the estate have not been developed into sprawling subdivisions.
"It's just so great that we have these beautiful houses nearby," she says.