Life at the Cottage
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Sunset Cabin, ca. 1920 (Wendy Kimmel)
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William Mansell owned a business in Toronto and had a summer home on Peninsula Lake. In 1912 he purchased 198 acres of land from Elizabeth Hart to build a hunting and fishing camp. Later he bought an additional 440 acres from the Hodgson and Field families.
For the first few years a large, three-room tent was used until Sunset Cabin was built in 1915. Eric Thompson, farm manager, with his team of horses, was instrumental in building the log cabin, which is not perpendicular to the shoreline but rather is aligned to the summer solstice, when the setting sun shines directly through the main cabin. A substantial log wood shed, an ice house, a two-seater log privy, and a boathouse were built at the same time.
As more family became interested in spending their summers at Rebecca Lake, a second, two-room cabin, the “Kid Brother,” was built along the shore. During the summer family would bring their children and guests to stay for two weeks at Sunset Cabin. Then they would move next door to the Kid Brother for the next two weeks, while another family member moved in to Sunset Cabin for their two weeks.
From 1915 until the late 1940s, the cottagers relied on Sunset Farm for dairy, bread, and fresh produce. Mansell women became adept at using the Moffat wood-burning stove to bake bread, pies, and other meals. Dry goods were ordered by catalogue, delivered to Huntsville, and brought in the last 15 miles over poor roads. It was a simple life, with ice taken from the lake in the winter for cooling, wood-burning stoves and fireplaces for cooking and heating, outdoor sanitary facilities, a point-source well for water, coal oil lanterns, and fresh fish from the lake.
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| “This is why we come to the lake…” Some of the Mansell family, summer 1942, with north shore of Rebecca Lake in the background (Wendy Kimmel) | Jack Mansell sailing a canoe, ca. 1936-1937 (Wendy Kimmel) |
Canoes and double-ended rowboats were very popular for fishing and exploring. The first motorboat was introduced to Rebecca Lake in the 1930s. It didn’t work very well, so George Richard (Dick) Mansell and his family converted it to a sailboat, sewing canvas for a sail over the winter and building a mast, leeboards, and rudder to outfit it. Before the bridge was built over the Narrows, they were able to sail easily between the two lakes. The Juiña was retired from the lake in the late 1960s.
Stories Abound…
Honeymooners at Sunset Cabin in February 1920, when newlywed Dick Mansell carved the fireplace mantle, “Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice”…
Extended excursions to Distress Dam or the Fire Tower beyond Heck Lake, stopping by Ranger Young’s cabin on First Sandy Beach…
Picnics at Clam Island and hundreds of freshwater clams…
Artifacts, including an arrowhead found at the Narrows and a rusty lock from the abandoned logging camp near Kells Landing…
Diary entries of summer 1940: “Walked to Limberlost for shoe polish” and “Swam at Billie Bear then strove on to view the ruins at Tynoka after its fire.“
Into the 1950s
In the late 1940s, William’s oldest son Percy Charles Mansell built a three-season cottage further along the shore from the original two cabins and named it “Amatibi."
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| Oshogowigamatamack (formerly the Kid Brother) in 1948 (Wendy Kimmel) | Amatibi, 1949 (Wendy Kimmel) |
Hydro electric power was installed in the early 1950s. Appliances such as a combination wood burning/electric stove, wringer washer, and refrigerator were purchased. The old Aladdin and Angle lamps were retired to the attic. In the late 1960s an extension was added onto Sunset Cabin, and a well was witched by Bob Hutcheson. Over the years additional rooms and porches were built out in every direction on the Kid Brother, making it a real cottage. The “Kid Brother” sign was repatriated to Sunset Cabin and hung over the log wood shed, which was converted to a sleeping cabin. The second ice house, built circa 1947, was first converted to a workshop after hydro electric power was brought in, then subsequently to a sauna.
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| Jack Mansell constructing diving tower, ca. 1958: “The tower sat in 6 to 8 feet of water about 100 feet offshore. For many years there was a trampoline on top. Lots of fun.” (Wendy Kimmel) | “Sunset Beach” in 1956, when lake levels were lower. The log retaining wall was built by Sunset Farm tenant Eric Thompson between 1915 and 1919. (Wendy Kimmel) | The three-room tent used between 1912 and 1915, before Sunset Cabin was built, made an honorary appearance at the cabin’s 70th anniversary at the lake in 1985 (Wendy Kimmel) |
Although William Mansell died in 1938, the Rebecca portion of his estate was not settled for 30 years. His surviving grandchildren agreed to divide the shoreline into waterfront cottage lots and to retain the “hinterland” and point of land on Rebecca Lake in a private corporation for the enjoyment of William’s heirs. Each of William’s grandchildren chose three waterfront lots. Since the 1970s a number of these lots have been sold and developed, although a few of the properties are still owned by William’s descendants.
Mansell Properties Ltd. holds the remaining 500 acres of forest and wetlands to the south of Rebecca Lake. Plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of MPL on August 4, 2017, were thwarted by a tornado which hammered the three original cottages. However, food and refreshments from the cancelled event were put to good use helping to feed some of the many volunteer and emergency responders.
Sources:
Mansell Family records.
Mansell, W. Dan, and Carolyn Paterson, eds., Pioneer Glimpses from Sinclair Township, Muskoka (Peterborough: asiOtus Natural Heritage Consultants, Barbara Paterson Papers, 2015).
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