Mod Haliburton Luxury: lakeside architectural gem, w/5 kms private hiking trails

About Sharon and Joe

We are a Canadian/British couple who have lived and worked in Asia for the past 20 years. Together, we have a rather obsessive interest in architecture, an unhealthy addiction to both design and xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and a love of pristine nature as an antidote to urban living. This has culminated in establishing The Bear Stand - a special cabin getaway that stands close to our hearts, and which we miss dearly between visits. We have a great local property management team on hand to help our guests with anything they may need whilst staying at the property. We hope you enjoy The Bear Stand as much as we do.

Why Sharon and Joe chose Highlands East

Following numerous long-haul flights from Asia to Toronto, we had the opportunity to purchase the unique and unspoiled 99-acre woodland and waterfront site on which The Bear Stand now sits. We bought this naturally wild and untouched lot in 2011 and the journey began to create a vacation getaway which blended our interests in design with the amazing natural environment that the Haliburton area affords. With such a large area of land to work with, we first of all set the site for the house by the water and then commissioned a top eco trail builder to help us establish trails to access what we suspected to be a gorgeous interior. We were right - and to this day we continue to be surprised by the natural beauty of the land, which is filled with interior lakes, marshes, beaver ponds, granite bluffs and an incredible assortment of wildlife. We hope you enjoy The Bear Stand and its environs as much as we do. By the way, The Bear Stand moniker derives from the hunting legacy attached to this wonderful natural property; if you look hard, you can still see the original hunting stand(s) used by generations past, in the woods off of our private inland trails here at Contau.

What makes this Cottage unique

We were able to design and build The Bear Stand in exactly the way we dreamed of, thanks to the incredibly talented - and multi award-winning - team at Seattle-based architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. The house conveys a modern Pacific Northwest architecture style, adapted to suit Ontario climates and the unique site surroundings at Contau Lake. Over a period of three years and through many multi-timezone video conferences (Shanghai-Seattle-Haliburton), we, together with our master builder Brinkman Construction, ended up with a gorgeous home which thoughtfully fuses modern master craftsmanship with indoor-outdoor connectivity to beautifully highlight its breathtaking natural setting. A soaring hand-crafted wood structure offers floor-to-ceiling lake and forest views, with three granite fireplaces (inside and out), a two-storey fir beamed ceiling and heated hardwood floors. Every room in the property offers a different view and sightline, seamlessly connecting this beautiful building to the land from which it rises. Every detail has been thoughtfully considered and the quality of the design and the build is second to none. The grounds are carefully landscaped to transition from garden environs to the surrounding forest setting and include a children’s jungle gym, shallow beach area, horseshoe pit and lakeside walking path. For nature lovers, we offer an incredible network of private hiking trails, 2.5km of professionally groomed and sign-posted footpaths, marsh boardwalks, scenic overlooks and nature viewing platforms. All established by the renowned trail experts at EcoTrailbuilders. These lead to 3.4km of adjacent crown land trails. Welcome to your own private wilderness experience!