Kingswood And Kingsmere Lake

Picking up where I left off yesterday, this is the main cottage at Kingswood. Set on the hill overlooking Kingsmere Lake, it was first built in 1903 when William Lyon Mackenzie King started buying up land here, and then expanded in 1916 and 1924.

The cottage was open, so I headed inside. By 1924, the finished cottage had three small bedrooms, a breakfast room, a large living room, and a kitchen. The main entrance to the place goes into what in 1903 was the original kitchen, but today is a lobby. The kitchen is actually the extension to the left of the door. Below is one of the bedrooms, with artifacts from King's mother, who visited from time to time until her death in 1920, and stayed in this room. 

This is a view of the living room- note King's typewriter. On inclement days he would work from here, with ready access to the spacious verandahs outside.

I stepped outside to go down to the lake, and photographed across to the guest cottage.

And here's a view of the main cottage, with that verandah. I can imagine King sitting there on a breezy fall afternoon, watching the lake down the slope.

I went down to the lakeshore. One of the quirks of Gatineau Park includes private cottages within its bounds, and so some of those are on the opposite shore of Kingsmere Lake. The fall colours were in their glory.

King had a boat house built down here, and it's still here. It was used to store his canoe, and as a change house when he or his guests wanted to swim. 

When I was here in May with Tom and his wife, the fiddleheads in this spot were just starting to grow for the season. Now they were done for the year.

Kingsmere Lake is an absolute beauty, especially this time of year. You can see why it would have appealed to King.