Classic Canada - Luxury 4 Season Retreat + Horses

Experience Canada at its best - choose your year-round adventure - wildlife viewing, horse-riding, hiking, paddling, x-country skiing, snow-shoeing, etc...

From your own luxury off-grid lodge with soaring ceiling and amazing views, explore miles of nature trails and discover beaver and heron ponds while crossing paths with deer, elk and moose.

Also to enjoy on the 200 acre property: hobby farm, writer's cabin, sugar shack, forest studio, wood-fired sauna and hot tub, fire pit and much more...

The space
Welcome to Hidden Pastures - your own private Canada!

The OUTDOOR portions of our property include:

200 ACRES of beautifully natural Canadian wilderness including forests, fields, hills, valleys, ponds, rock outcrops, paths and trails. Abundant wildlife including deer, elk, moose, beaver and much more! A bird watcher's paradise including bald eagles, hawks, herons and owls. Don't miss the incredible dark-sky star-viewing as well as all the fire-flies!

HORSE PASTURES: Just outside of the main lodge is a 10 acre horse pasture for your horses, or ours on request. Just contact the hosts who live on the adjoining hobby farm for a meet and greet and to ride the horses if you wish!

HOT TUB AND SAUNA: Situated on the hilltop just outside the main lodge is a wood-fired hot tub and wood-fired barrel sauna, both accomodating 6 people.

FOREST BATHING: You will be immersed in a beautiful boreal forest composed of Oak, Maple, Cedar, Pine, Spuce, Birch, Poplar, and many others. Filled with widlife including deer, elk and moose, as well as a huge variety of birds including bald eagles, red hawks and several species of owl

BEAVER POND: A classic beaver pond with large dam, multiple lodges, and active beaver populations.

HERON POND: A secluded pond home to several nests of the Great Blue Heron.

SKATING: Weather-permitting, we try to maintain a skating and pond-hockey rink as far into the season as possible. Sticks, pucks and nets provided

WATERFALL: A steady cascade down a rocky face just past the beaver dam during the spring run-off

SUGAR SHACK: An active operation during the spring thaw drawing on over 50 taps, tubes and buckets. if you help keep the fires burning, you can take what you make home!

TRAILS: Miles of trails throughout the property and into adjoing crown (public) land. Suitable for walking, hiking, horse-riding and mountain biking spring through fall and snow-shoeing, x-country skiiing in the winter (equipment provided).

TOBOGGAN HILL: There is a great toboggan hill and lots of types of sleds provided

HOBBY FARM: The owners live on the adjoining farm with horses, goats, friendly dogs and lots of barn cats. Come down and visit, play with the animals and ride the horses! We can also tell you stories and show you around the log barn built by the original homesteaders over 150 years ago!



The INDOOR portions of our property include:

MAIN LODGE: Completely off-grid 3000 square foot luxury lodge. Open-concept with soaring 25 foot floor to ceiling sunset-facing windows. Anchored by a large stone fireplace beside a sunken living room. Adjoining dining area (10 person oak dining table) and custom kitchen with large island and well-stocked pantry. Living room is surrounded and overlooked by an extensive library upstairs with 2 reading nooks, large desk and 4 work stations.

Four bedrooms with 5 beds, 2 full bathrooms, and 2 powder rooms. Master bedroom has a king bed and ensuite with claw-foot tub. Second bedroom has a queen bed and westward view. Kids' bedroom has two double beds. Guest wing downstairs has a bedroom with queen bed, full bathroom and adjoins a media room with a gas fireplace, large sectional, 72" smart TV, and large collection of DVDs and Wii games.

BBQ and HAMMOCK DECKS: Two, separate screened-in porches suitable for lounging, grilling and eating. Large Napoleon gas grill with implements (including propane) available for your use.

FOREST STUDIO: A 'tiny house' about 20 meters into the forest from the main lodge. 10' x 10' footprint with easel, sleeping loft and tiny wood stove ideal for sketching, painting, meditating, or just napping!

WRITER'S CABIN: A rustic log cabin about 1 km away from main lodge overlooking a completely secluded and private beaver pond. Approximately 20' x 16' with pull-out couch and sleeping loft (sleeping bags included). Wood-stove for heating. No plumbing (outhouse). Feel free to stay overnight for an extra adventure!

NATURE NESTS: Ten small refuges scattered around the pond suitable for sleeping, meditating, or simply watching nature from a camouflaged 'blind'

Guest access
Guests of ours are encourged to use the whole property and then some!

We are rurally located so you can also use the property as a stepping off point to explore the nearby countryside including:

Extensive crown land for hiking, hunting, ATVing and snowmobiling

Nearby lakes and rivers for swimming, paddling, boating and fishing. Our favorite is Fosters Lake (~20 minute drive) that has a great public and sandy beach, clean water, parking, playground, bathrooms and picnic area

Provincial Parks: We are 30 minutes from Silent Lake Provincial Park and 45 minutes from Bon Echo Park and also from the south entrance to Algonquin Park

Other things to note
Our property is completely off-grid. This means all electric power comes from 8KW of solar panels and a 1KW wind-turbine. There is a back-up generator that automatically comes on when required, so the power is seamless.

Off-grid living is different from on-grid living. It is still comfortable, but different.

The major difference is simply being aware of the power you are using, and only using power when you need it.

We lived full-time in the main lodge for many years. 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and lots of guests. We found were were able to live comfortably only on the power provided by the sun, the wind, and the forest. We still used as much power as we needed. The only difference is that we didn't use any power that we didn't need. This means:

Lights, TVs, fans, etc.. off when leaving the room

Time-shifting major power use (i.e. laundry, dishwasher) from night-time to day time (when the sun is up).

Being off-grid also means no air conditioning nor central heating.

In winter we heat by wood via the large stone fireplace and large wood stove. This is more than adequate if you 'keep the fires burning'. (All firewood is provided and included in the nightly fee). Night-owls and early-brids are particularly helpful in keeping the fires tended, otherwise it might be a bit chilly in the morning.

In summer, the nights are usually cooler and great for sleeping with windows open. Only during the hottest days is it important to keep curtains in the bedrooms closed to reduce the passive heating. We've installed awnings over the large central windows to also help keep things cool.

In short indoor temperatures will be comfortable but will likely vary by a few degrees around the house.

All that said, we hope you've chosen to stay precisely because you want to experience and learn about off-grid living. If really interested, just let us know and we can give you a quick tour and familiarization of the system!