FAMILY, YOUTH AND CHILD SERVICES OF MUSKOKA
In 1997-98, Larry French, of French's Fine Homes, was contracted to build the Huntsville office of this organization at 81 Main Street West. The goal was to blend in with the surrounding streetscape of the late Victorian homes. A few years before, in 1989, Mr. French undertook restoration work of the neighbouring Paget House. Paget House was designed in 1903 by William Proudfoot, a master builder in Huntsville. Mr. French imitated the style of the Paget house turrets and added windows and a roofline to mimic an older Queen Anne style, while ensuring that the building retains a modern office functionality. The FYCS building was opened in June of 1998.

WINDERMERE WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
Windermere School House served as an elementary school, and later a continuation school, from 1913 to 1966. It still serves as the "heart" of Windermere, as the community hall for dinners, card parties, showers, funeral lunches, and as a meeting place for the local Lions Club and Women's Institute. This brick, one-room building with an enclosed entrance was erected by carpenters George Watson and James Fife. The Waltenbury Brothers from Bracebridge completed the cement and brickwork. Visitors should take note of the arched brickwork over the windows that add a touch of grace to an otherwise utilitarian building and help to support the weight of the bricks above.

BRIAN AND NANCY THOMPSON, FORMER BENT RIVER POST OFFICE
Built by James Young circa 1888, this farmhouse served as the Bent River Post Office from 1903 to 1967. The typically "British" style, with its solid, squarish brick two-storey construction, was favoured by British Empire Loyalists. A frame construction with a brick veneer indicates the relative wealth of the farmers, considering the expense and distance that the brick had to be hauled. A steep roof helps to prevent snow build-up and the steep gables over the entranceways helps to keep snow from building up in doorways. Gable windows let light and air circulate in the otherwise stuffy second storey. The original roof had wood shingles, which were replaced by tin in 1910 and much later by red steel. Wrap-around verandas shaded the house in summer and may have slowed winter winds. The low stone foundation is of uncoursed fieldstone from the farm. The house, like many of its time, was built on a hill, partly to take advantage of air circulation and partly to be located on the least arable land.

ROBERT AND RUTH DOLPHIN - WAHAWIN
The original Crown grant for this property was given to Thomas Brown in 1876. The cottage was built for Mr. W. I. Green in 1902, and named for his three sons, Walter, Harry and Winthrop. Wahawin's interior walls and ceilings are all pine tongue-in-groove, crafted with lumber imported from Georgia, known for its knot-free wood. In the 1920's, architect 'Dixie' Cotton designed an addition to the cottage that virtually doubled its size. There is a fine interior stone chimney from the original stone fireplace and the original wraparound veranda gives the home a Regency flavour. Currently, Wahawin is the summer home of Robert and Ruth Dolphin.

DAVID AND SHARYN BIRD - CONESTOGA LODGE
Henry J. Bird's summer cottage at St. Elmo's on Lake Muskoka has been transformed into a permanent resident by Henry's great-grandson, David and David's wife, Sharyn. While the cottage is now a full-time home, the character of the cottage, built in the 1880's has been retained. Conestoga Lodge is identifiable by its widow's walk above the middle arch on the veranda - a feature similar to the one on Henry Bird's home, Woodchester Villa, in Bracebridge. The brick fireplace, interior woodwork, dream signs in the bay window and native artifacts add to the home's ambiance.

SUSAN AND TED DAGLISH - SUBHA
William Middleton discovered the abandoned log cabin in 1877. It had been built in the 1840's or early 1850's. He began restoring it as a cottage, digging a basement to serve as a cool food storage area, and adding a loft floor above for the bedrooms. As the cottage would only be used in the summer, he did not chink it. Inner walls were finished by the simple expedient of vertical tongue-in-groove pine boards. Verandas surrounding two sides of the house were added at the turn of the century. The log cottage suffered over fifty years of benign neglect; so virtually no changes were made until 1970 when Middleton's daughter began restoring it to its 1890 state. Subha (sue-ba) translates roughly from the Ojibwa word meaning "place of peace or healing." Subha today gives guests the impression that they have travelled back in time 100 years.

MRS. HELEN BURTON - MAIN ENTRANCE
This cottage is part of a complex of five buildings, owned by a family who will celebrate, in 2003, the 100th consecutive year of family summers on Georgian Bay near the Severn lock.
Main Entrance was built in 1903 by the Reverend A. B. Chambers, who was an avid fisherman. Details of the seasons' catch were pencilled on the walls for more than ten years, as were the growth charts of each member of the following four generations of children.
It is a plain board and batten structure, with tongue-in-groove planks serving as both outside and inside walls. Five of the original double hung windows are still functional, only two inside wall boards have been replaced and both doors to the building are original.

KIRK AND HEIDI LORENZ
The Lorenz house in Gravenhurst is a red brick century home built in 1876. Kirk and Heidi have done extensive restoration work to the interior, caring for the original hardwood maple floors, oak and pine baseboards and door frames, and plaster ceilings complete with decorative mouldings. The elegant home was originally the home of the owner of the Mowry & Sons Foundry, which was located on the present-day site of the Christensen Law Office.