Muskoka cottage real estate

Muskoka cottages, from someone who lives here.

I'm Seth. I live up here all year. If you're thinking about buying or selling a cottage in Muskoka, call me and ask me anything: the lake, the road in, the well, the septic, which side gets the sunset.

Call Seth · 705-346-2595 Find your lake

Aerial view of forested islands, docks and cottages on a deep blue Muskoka lake — Fig. 1 · Cottage country from above, late August.

From the road to the water

Every cottage comes with the same eight questions.

Most of the answers aren't in the listing. These are the things I'll walk you through on any cottage you look at, from where you park to where you swim.

Question 01 / 08

The road in

Township road, private road, or boat access only? It changes who plows, what insurance costs, and how the groceries get there.

The road in

Township road, private road, or boat access only? It changes who plows, what insurance costs, and how the groceries get there.

General information. Your home inspector, your lawyer and the township confirm the details on any specific property.

The lakes

Every lake has its own personality.

Big lakes, small lakes, and towns with a real main street. Here's the short version of each. Pick one and I'll tell you the long version.

A loon on a misty lake at sunrise beside a pine-covered point — Fig. 2 · Six a.m., one loon, nobody else up yet.

Lake MuskokaThe biggest of the three. Old fishing cabins, century-old boathouses, and mostly easy road access.Bracebridge · Gravenhurst Lake RosseauDeep water, tall pines, granite points, and plenty of privacy. A lot of it is boat access.Port Carling · Windermere Lake JosephClear, deep and quiet. The swimmer's lake.Port Carling · Port Sandfield Lake of BaysA maze of bays and islands with room to really boat, and less traffic than the big three.Baysville · Dwight Skeleton LakeNearly round, ringed by cliffs, and some of the clearest water anywhere up here.Near Rosseau Peninsula LakePen Lake to locals. Open water, good sailing, five minutes from Huntsville.Huntsville Fairy LakeBoat from your dock to dinner in downtown Huntsville.Huntsville Mary LakeEight islands, and the falls at Port Sydney at the south end.Port Sydney Three Mile LakeLong and narrow, tucked between Port Carling and Rosseau.Windermere Brandy LakeSmall, amber water, and a lake association that throws a regatta every summer.Port Carling

TownsBracebridge Gravenhurst Huntsville Port Carling Bala Baysville Port Sydney

All 20 lake and town guidesPlus the small lakes most people have never heard of.

Seth Drabinsky, Real Estate SalespersonCV Real Estate, Brokerage

Who's Seth?

Grew up summering here. Now I live here.

I spent every summer as a kid in Muskoka. These days it's home all year. My family's cottage is on a small, quiet lake, and on summer nights you'll find me boating across the big ones to have dinner with friends.

When I'm not showing cottages, I'm mountain biking the local trails, playing pickleball at the community centre, kiteboarding, fishing, or running the barbecue.

I've been to more than 50 countries and lived in three. Nothing beats a Muskoka summer.

Lives: In Muskoka, all year
Off the clock: Trails, water, pickleball
Phone: 705-346-2595

A small wood cottage with lit windows and chimney smoke on a snowy point above a frozen lake at dusk

Year-round

Here in February, too.

Cottage questions don't keep summer hours, and neither do I. Winter is a good time to look at a place and ask about heat, plowing and pipes.

Working together

Buying, selling, or just curious. It starts with a call.

A green canoe on pink granite beside an old rock-filled crib dock, with autumn maples across the bay — Fig. 3 · Early October on the granite.

Buying

Looking for a cottage

Tell me how you'll use it: summer weekends, the whole season, or eventually all year. I'll narrow down the lakes that fit, show you around, and make sure you know what to ask before you write an offer.

Selling