I’m staying in the most beautiful homes/estates in Mattawa, Ontario, Canada. This place, called Moosehead Estates was built in the 1900’s and has a long and wonderful history; including owners like the gold-striking Timmins brothers (who the city of Timmins, Ontario is named for), and Senator Donat Raymond, who also owned the Montreal Canadians Hockey Club.  Guests have included the likes of Gypsy Lee Rose, Mae West, and various Maple Leafs hockey players.

Moosehead Estates is gorgeous. We arrive up a windy and dusty dirt road, blinded by the kickback from Jeff’s pickup in front of us. Suddenly the trees open up and a large, historic looking home stands in front of us on a lush green lawn.

This home has 2 wings that are not connected to each other in the upper floors.

The North Wing – which is up the right staircase directly off the main front door, has 3 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom, as well as a porch with a fantastic view of the lake in the backyard. Oh yes, the house faces Lake Champlain – but we will get to that more.

Walking through the house you come to the back sitting room, with a gigantic bay window that also overlooks the lake and offers magnificent sunset views.

The staircase, off the back of the living room, leads to the South Wing – the wing in which we stay, which has 4 single queen rooms, a bathing room (with sink and luxurious clawed foot bathtub), half bath, and full, showered washroom.  Upstairs of the bedrooms is a giant, open business area, complete with board room table, coffee/snack area, and 2 peaked windows looking out over the lake – providing incentive to finish your business quickly so you can go enjoy the serene landscape.

The Estate rents exclusively – meaning, only one person, couple, or group at a time can reserve space.  Therefore, at no time do you have to worry about sharing this amazing place with strangers or another group.  This exclusivity makes Moosehead different from many other bed and breakfast type places, and creates a much more romantic and elite feel to your stay.

The food is out of this world.  Mel does all the cooking for you.  She creates these magnificent and gourmet coursed meals from local and fresh-from-her-garden ingredients.   Dishes like pork tenderloin with raspberry sauce (which I nicked named Saucesomness), warm beef tenderloin over soba noodles, handmade crab cakes, and oh, ALL THE BREAD IS HANDMADE DAILY (utter heaven for a carb-a-holic like me!)

Everything about Moosehead Estates oozes class and relaxation.  If you are going anywhere up in Northern Counties, Moosehead Estates is the place to stay!