From the Town of Gravenhurst:
Severn River Inn – 1002 Cowbell Lane
Town of Gravenhurst Council will consider the repeal of the heritage designating by-law at its regular meeting to be held on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest – Severn River Inn: In 1858, James H. Jackson, an English settler, pioneered at the site and built a log cabin which evolved into a small general store, and then became Muskoka’s first post office on January 1, 1861. In 1906, a fire destroyed much of north Severn Bridge, including the buildings on this site. In 1907, the present brick building was erected and has since been used as a store, post office, telephone exchange, hotel, and boarding house for tourists and others. Architecturally, the building is a significant example of early Muskoka store and inn construction. Its exterior featured a store front façade of two six-paned windows, with round arched wooden windows throughout the building. A number of these windows retained a special etched glass in the upper portion of the pane. Originally, a pillared verandah existed on six sides of the T-shaped building, with a small railed private balcony over the verandah. In the interior, the original vertical four-inch tongue and groove V-joint wall paneling still existed, along with the sculptured six-inch pine trim. The parlour is distinguished by a sculptured pine archway and pillars.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION regarding the proposed designating by-law repeal is available at the Town of Gravenhurst municipal office. Please contact Angela Ghikadis, Planner during office hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday) by phone at 705-687-3412 ext. 2246 or by email at [email protected].
Any person who objects to the proposed repeal of the designating by-law shall, within thirty days of the date of publication of this notice, serve on the Clerk of the Town of Gravenhurst a Notice of Objection setting out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
Andrew Sommers says
Might have been a good thing if the reason for the request was part of the story, no???
Al Duncan says
A follow up story with the reason and future of the building would be informative. A lot of history in those walls and would be sad to see it torn down
Mark Stephens says
I live close to this property and walk past it often. It is currently used as an AirBnb which is split into multiple units and was recently renovated, extensively outside and I can only assume inside as well.
I wonder what the reasoning is to remove the designation? With all the money invested recently I cannot see them wanting to tear it down. Perhaps there are some more extensive Reno’s wanted that are not allowed due to the designation.
Matt Douris says
Any objection must be accompanied by a reason and all relevant facts…so it’s reasonable to expect that the request for repeal would, too. This journal has an obligation to present the entire story.
Without it, it’s too easy to conclude that this is just an attempt to keep some buddies’ backroom deal under the radar.
Cassie Hartford says
Wow, an entire article touching on the history, however, without much information about why the repeal or any proposed future plans… I hope to see a follow-up article as I grew up near by and that place was always so special and fascinating to me. Probably one of the reasons I’m into older architecture now as an adult in my 30’s
Karolyn Hallam says
Homes with heritage designation have extremely expensive home insurance policies. I have a friend who owns a heritage home and the policy tripled over the course of 2 years.. There is abousolutely no benefit to having a designation for her.
I assume after all the work that the owners have put in to the Old Severn Inn they have no intention of tearing it down. I believe it could strictly be a financial issue due to home insurance.