The McIntosh Cottage

The McIntosh Cottage A unique, rustic cottage situated in the beautiful Haliburton Highlands on Salerno Lake. We are 50 min. Canoe, paddle boat and aluminum boat are all included.

This unique, rustic cottage is situated on Salerno Lake which is known for its excellent fishing and located in the beautiful Haliburton Highlands area, about 40 minutes north of Peterborough, and 2.5 hrs from Toronto. south of Alqonquin Park and one hour away from the 65,000 acre Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve with its 'A Walk in the Clouds' canopy tour, world-famous Wolf Observatory, and

its well-groomed trails for biking & hiking. Our lakefront haven is a spacious 3-level building with a separate bunkie/ games room. With 3 bedrooms and a loft in the main building, and double bunk-beds in the bunkie, the cottage has ample room for any large family. Our vacant lot next door enhances the sense of woodland seclusion and adds to the plentiful lounging and playing outdoor space. Our screened-in porch provides outdoor seating while being sheltered from inclement weather. This porch connects to our huge, surround deck housing a glass-top table and umbrella for outdoor dining while viewing the lake. For complete details and booking, please visit our website at www.mcintoshcottage.ca. We pride ourselves on the fact that our cottage is well stocked from night lights, loads of kids toys, and kitchen towels to ample lawn furniture, canoe, paddle boat, 2 outdoor fireplaces etc., making this vacation getaway worry-free with maximum relaxation. The main living area centres around a large circular fireplace, open from all sides, giving it a warm cozy feel on cool evenings. For rainy days, it comes equipped with over 100 movies, board games, books, and puzzles for all ages. The dining area seats 10 guests comfortably at a beautiful hand crafted pine table, and is equipped with a booster chair & high chair for the youngsters. The top floor is a loft equipped with toys for all ages and a queen futon bed. This location allows you to hear the kids playing while you are preparing meals. The loft also sports skylights making this an excellent place for star gazing. Main level has a queen bed in the master bedroom and the lower level has 2 bedrooms (1 queen & twin bunk beds). On the lower level is a full size washer and dryer and an exit to the outside. Just bring towels and linens - everything else is provided! The bunkie, located across the driveway, is equipped with double bunk beds and doubles as games room. For your entertainment pleasure there is an eight-ball pool table, regulation dart board, and card table and chairs. The bunkie is excellent for the older kids or another couple to have their private accommodation. Parents will have no trouble watching their kids from the substantial dock with sitting area. For your enjoyment of refreshments on the dock on those hot summer days, there is a fridge located in the water's edge shed. Down at the lake, there is a swing set, a sand pile, and a large fire pit for roasting marshmallows and campfire sing along. For your outside eating pleasure, there is a picnic area located near the main entrance to the cottage. This area is equipped with a picnic table and a lovely outside stone fireplace.

Appreciation post for these awesome humans! ☝🏼Three generations and 11 years of full-of-life, creative, warm, friendly, ...
08/03/2025

Appreciation post for these awesome humans! ☝🏼

Three generations and 11 years of full-of-life, creative, warm, friendly, problem-solving, cottage loving visits from these fine folks who are like friends now. 💕

Some fun facts:
🍼 In 2014, Katie brought her 2-week-old baby to the cottage - that little one is now 11!
Katie offered to sew a custom baby gate for our spiral staircase that was totally open at the time. We opted instead to install a custom baby gate to keep the LOs safe, and never looked back - it was such an important upgrade!

🍻 Ever wondered about the epic "McIntosh Cottage Rules" that are just so thoughtful and perfect? That was an amazingly thoughtful custom gift.

🧻 The 4/4 Star roll of decoration TP? The cute sign about toasted marshmallows? All their genius.

💪🏼 The daily recommended workouts hanging by the steps? We can't take any credit, that was all this go-getter family's fun!

For some Then Vs Now photos, take a peek at our story today! The photos are sure to bring smiles. 😍

Also, spy the custom gear! 👀

06/24/2025

We finally have sorted out the Instagram-Facebook cross-posting connection, so will update the page with all the exciting happenings here shortly. Prepare for a dump of reels! 😀

March 30: Ice storm, widespread destruction, power outages for 7+ days for some residents, thousands of snapped trees.Ma...
05/04/2025

March 30: Ice storm, widespread destruction, power outages for 7+ days for some residents, thousands of snapped trees.

May 3: The kids live their best outdoor adventure lives
✅ Tree climbing on the MANY downed trees (shown here only two)
✅ Collecting birch bark off the downed trees
✅ Navigating around branches like they're the most epic obstacle course

It's going to take a long time to clean this all up, but that's OK! 🙏🏼 We had zero damage to outbuildings, the cottage itself, the stone steps, the boats... Even the swing set seems to be ok and not a scratch on the plastic Muskoka chairs (though darn close to annihilation!). So... We're counting our blessings/sincere luck.

👩🏼‍🔧 Today we got the water put in despite a broken copper pipe connection to be repaired (thanks to our lovely neighbours for coming in clutch with the plumbing solder).

Tomorrow, we're tackling:
👉🏼 Septic tank uncovering for pumping
👉🏼 Tree limb clearing
👉🏼 Water drainage (aka mud puddle playtime for the kids)

Rub a dub dub 🧼James & Gigi helped mom run a heavy-duty load of cottage laundry that needed to be completed in anticipat...
04/21/2025

Rub a dub dub 🧼

James & Gigi helped mom run a heavy-duty load of cottage laundry that needed to be completed in anticipation of cottage opening. T-minus 12 days!

Thanks to our happy little helpers, who make the chores extra cute. 😍

🧊 Ice storm 2025 🧊Epic destruction resulted from the ice storm on March 30/2025. Our cottage escaped unscathed - which i...
04/16/2025

🧊 Ice storm 2025 🧊

Epic destruction resulted from the ice storm on March 30/2025. Our cottage escaped unscathed - which is honestly shocking and we are incredibly thankful. Nonetheless, there's plenty of cleanup awaiting - and possibly more trees to cut down upon arrival this spring.

Grateful to kind neighbours who kept an eye on things for us, sent updates and pics, and to our direct neighbour for cutting and clearing huge logs from the driveway.

Honourable mention to the beavers over the past two years who took an active hand in forestry management... They might have saved our roof by hastening the pace of tree removal last year!

Thanksgiving weekend at the cottage is so special, and we were lucky to spend it together quietly, sharing in the peacef...
10/18/2024

Thanksgiving weekend at the cottage is so special, and we were lucky to spend it together quietly, sharing in the peacefulness of Salerno Lake in autumn. 💕

Pleased to announce our partnership with ! Hailing from Paris, Astrid hand-crafts artisanal chocolate (and other goodies), which we had the pleasure of enjoying as a reward for each cottage-closing task.

**Use code MCINTOSH10 for 10% off your order now until Dec 1st! Delivery available across Ontario.**

➡️ Swipe to see the mouth-watering Toasted Dark Praline, and Gigi enjoying a Vegan Praline.

Some highlights from our season-closing weekend:
🍁 Fall colours and leaves galore for jumping!
🦌 Seeing deer by the side of the road
🍫 Indulging in fantastic artisanal chocolates
🧩 Working on puzzles with the kids
🍿 Cuddling up for a movie
🔥 Having our fireplace officially certified by a WETT inspector (big time grown up excitement on this one!)
🗿Attempting to flip a massive rock to open up the beach a bit more by purely mechanical advantage of a lever (a long tree limb) and fulcrum (another stone) - à la Stone Henge
🎣 Taking the kids fishing in the middle of the lake

Things not shown:
♻️ Recycling puzzles that had too many missing pieces (to be replaced, no sweat!)
🚣🏼‍♀️ Pulling in the dock, pulling out the water line - and discovering that the lake now has dreaded
🛏️ Bagging all the bedding for laundering, bagging all the mattresses, and generally covering everything for winter
🌬️ Clearing the driveway and steps of leaves in record time again, thanks to my blower by

As always, the time was too short, and it's hard to believe that we've once again come to the end of the season. With any luck, we'll have posts up soon to share some memories from our guests this summer, and a long-awaited cottage tour.

Until then, we hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful autumn! 🍂


Aurora borealis over Salerno tonight! 🌌What a spectacular solar storm!We're en route right now and hoping to catch a few...
10/11/2024

Aurora borealis over Salerno tonight! 🌌
What a spectacular solar storm!

We're en route right now and hoping to catch a few glimpses of this around midnight when the moon sets and the colours really come out to play. 🤞🏼

📷: Kevin K Pepper

What a perfect weekend! We are enjoying 22°C, no bugs, warm water, and sunny days. Dare I say, autumn weekends are where...
09/28/2024

What a perfect weekend! We are enjoying 22°C, no bugs, warm water, and sunny days. Dare I say, autumn weekends are where it's at?

🍃Autumnal vibes at the cottage 🍁Look at the RICH colours on those leaves! Imagine what Thanksgiving weekend might look l...
09/24/2024

🍃Autumnal vibes at the cottage 🍁

Look at the RICH colours on those leaves! Imagine what Thanksgiving weekend might look like once all the leaves hit maximum autumnal colours.✨

It's been a very busy summer season - at the cottage and personally, for our family. As usual, we had some of the most wonderful guests and many good friends visit us this summer. 💚

We can't wait to drop pics in the coming months, as life (hopefully) slows down a bit again, including an updated and long-overdue cottage tour! Will we be eating our words? "Next week will be better..." 🤣 We'll see... But here's to hoping for some fabulous, calm autumn weekends in the meantime.

📸: Courtney Berry-Davis 🧡

Guests! People visiting in the area! Here are some super cool nature-focused events happening this summer. Check it out!
07/10/2024

Guests! People visiting in the area! Here are some super cool nature-focused events happening this summer. Check it out!

Our full summer event lineup is finally here! Come join us for fun and educational nature-based events for the whole family.

Along with our long-running Discovery Days series, we are also excited to host the first of our Partners In Conservation workshops: Toadhouse Building with Mary Anne Barkhouse at Abbey Gardens - A Growing Experience

All events are open to the public with pre-registration required and donations welcome. Register online here: https://bit.ly/3KJKaqh. Enjoy your summer everyone and hope to see you there!

Her first s'more and she couldn't be more pleased!Summer campfire and long weekend vibes 🏕️
05/20/2024

Her first s'more and she couldn't be more pleased!
Summer campfire and long weekend vibes 🏕️

Edit: Only ONE week remaining: July 7th - 13th!LAST-MINUTE RENTAL AVAILABLE!OPEN: July 7th - July 13th*BOOKED* July 13th...
04/02/2024

Edit: Only ONE week remaining: July 7th - 13th!

LAST-MINUTE RENTAL AVAILABLE!
OPEN: July 7th - July 13th
*BOOKED* July 13th - July 20th

$2100 for 6 nights (July 7 - 13), or $1850 for 5 nights (July 8 -13).

Msg here or email [email protected] to book!

Address

Haliburton, ON
K0M1R0

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