Bigwin Island
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Bigwin Island is the largest island on Lake of Bays, in the Muskoka District of Ontario, Canada. In 2001 it became the site of a major resort development, in the form of a golf course and a planned community of cottages, condominiums, and a hotel. The development has been quite controversial due to its impact on neighboring communities. This is the second development to be built on the island.
The Bigwin Inn opened in 1920 and was an exclusive summer destination for tourists from Toronto and the US eastern seaboard. It was developed by Charles Orlando Shaw, a Huntsville businessman. He founded the Bigwin Inn Company Ltd. in 1915 and hired John Wilson of Collingwood to architect the resort. With 350 guest rooms, it was one of the biggest and most beautiful resorts in Muskoka at the time. Wilson employed classical, Mediterranean, dodecagon, craftsman, Tudor and Victorian design elements, placed the buildings using the natural shoreline and landscape, used natural sunlight as much as possible, and connected the buildings with covered, lit walkways. Most construction took place during the winter, as the ice made it easier to transport supplies to the island, usually by horses and sleigh. Key buildings were the Indian Head Dining Room, which could seat up to 750 guests at one time, the Dance Pavilion and the Rotunda.
At its height during the 1930s many renowned musicians played at the Dance Pavilion. By then, the smaller Marine Dining Room and the less elaborate Tea House were built, along with the ferry house to store the many boats that serviced Bigwin.
C.O.Shaw died of a heart attack in 1942, and although the Inn was highly successful while he managed it, the following years were not as profitable. Ownership passed through several hands until Frank Leslie purchased the property in 1949. Leslie was successful in attracting entertainers to Bigwin, and prospered as a result, but due to illness he had to sell the hotel in the 1960s. The Inn closed in 1969.
Redevelopment of the island commenced in 2000, and it is now the site of a well-appointed 18-hole golf course, with a reconstructed clubhouse featuring The Marine Dining Room. Shoreline properties are being sold, with custom cottages being built for each owner. The "cottages" are really luxury vacation homes.
There is a native burial ground on Bigwin Island. The original owners consented to preserve and protect all the ancient burial sites on the island from desecration and to allow Chief John Bigwin, who was still alive at the time, to be buried there with his ancestors when he passed away.
