Brighton, as the sign says, is where “the past greets the future”. Nowhere is this more true than at the Timber House, where 2011 saw the launch of the 21st century cottage. Visit us at our CAA 3 Diamond-Rated boutique hotel to experience the birth of this exciting new kind of leisure. Come! Help us shape luxury living for the 21st!

Dave Leblanc is the Globe and Mail’s Architourist. He stayed with us and came away saying he expected big things are coming for Brighton. Here’s his story.

The new Timber House Resort is an upscale hospitality offering that delivers a simple and inviting guest experience uniquely attuned and connected to its natural surroundings. Our proposition is a relaxed luxury hotel and vacation resort emphasizing a connection to land, water and nature.

Visit us in 2012! It promises to be an exciting year.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year.

Welcome!

Extending the vision of our 21st Century Eco-Cottage Resort, our wireless network is about to be upgraded! We’re implementing the same technology and services used at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto and many other fine hotels and campus properties across Canada. Our new network will blanket the property with advanced 802.11n WiFi service. The high speed network will support delivery of movies, television and other advanced services throughout the property, including all our new eco-cottages and existing park model trailer sites. Our network will be built with Ruckus wireless adapter technology. Please contact us with any questions!

Ontario’s newest wine appellation, “The County” is quickly becoming one of the province’s must-visit destinations. The area boasts mineral-driven wines, small-batch beers and crisp ciders, artisanal cheeses, Italian-style ice creams, mouth-watering meals and gourmet hot dogs—all inspired by a dedication to local ingredients. It’s also home to some of North America’s largest freshwater beaches. We sit right on the edge of Prince Edward County on one side and Northumberland County’s historic towns, scenic countryside and its lesser known but similarly great local wineries on the other. A short drive from Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston and Montreal, you can enjoy both counties as part of a relaxing getaway at the Timber House.

We’ll make all the arrangements with the wineries, get you and your group of 8 or more in a limo and on your way to a carefree winery tour. Our region is producing award winning Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs and remarkable characters by the bunch. Below you can see a map showing some of these marvelous places. We’ll customize your tour and provide recommendations on those special places you’ll want to come back to again once discovered. See our Experience Pages for more information and to make your booking. Weekday wine tours are a great option, the smaller crowds ensure you receive more attention along the way. Check our The First Locaboire Wine Tour report to see what could be in store for your group.

Include these Great Spots in Your Tour of Northumberland and Prince Edward County Wine Country

Some of our favourites, all nearby:
Norm Hardie
The Grange
Closson Chase
Northumberland Heights
Rosehall Run
Harwood Estates
Redtail Winery
Waupoos Winery
Sandbanks Winery

There’s a lot to do around here! Golfers can feast on 10 local courses. Two of Ontario’s best tracks, Barcovan GC and Timber Ridge, are closest. Barcovan is less than 5 minutes away. Timber Ridge is about 10 minutes! See our great golf package deals for savings at premium local courses.

The Timber House beach is a great swimming and sunbathing beach. The water is clean, safe and warm. Our sand beach is a favorite for our younger visitors. We are favored by great afternoon winds, ideal for sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing. (yep really!)

Nearby, excellent on and off-road trails are available to cyclists. Let us show you little-known technical mountain-bike trails along the Murray Canal. Timber House is a frequent way-point for bicycle tourists coming along the Waterfront Trail into Hastings and Prince Edward County.

A great bonus for visiting birdwatchers is a tour of the wetland areas immediately around the Timber House. The area to the north of the Timber House is a protected Ducks Unlimited wetland teeming with wildlife, including warblers, swans and herons.

Top all this off with a swim in the pool and then catch some rays while enjoying a cool drink poolside. When you’re ready to really relax, watch the world go by from the Adirondack chairs on the verandah, the patio, or the private walk-out from your suite.

Winter is quieter. Occasional heavy snowfalls make for excellent cross-country skiing. A tour through Presqu’ile in wintertime exposes the nature-lover to a tranquil nature-preserve. A windy day will yield spectacular displays as waves crash against the ice-formations along the lake-shore. Couch-surfing in front of a roaring blaze in the massive Timber House fireplace is the active winter traveler’s ultimate reward.

Resources for cyclists touring the County
Overview of activities in the Quinte Area
Friends of Presqu’ile – Birders take note!

Call Today: 613-475-3304 or email to book!

We haven’t decided how we’ll participate this year. We won best commercial float in 2008. We did the float again the following year, but no prize, alas. For this year, maybe something completely different?

The Report on our 2009 Effort

Under stormy skies, another Brighton Applefest classic fall fair weekend brought the usual 20 or 30,000 people to our town. The organizers of the Brighton Applefest Parade again pulled off a spectacular event. It keeps getting better and better.

For the second year, the Timber House float joined the Brighton Applefest parade. The base for the float was Ralph Beeler’s 1930′s era farm trailer, rough and ready, rendered in cast iron and massive farm-ready wheels. On top, we had the usual proud array of Timber House flowers, finery and fine people, including Melissa, Sam, Michele and yours truly.

Continuing with our fall traditions, Ralph Beeler pulled the float with his impeccably restored John Deere and Susie maintained her refusal to show up in the outfit Ralph wanted.

Much thanks again to the usual suspects! That’s, you, Ralph and Wendy, Dad, Donna, Susie and Phil.

Al Purdy, Canada's Voice of the Land

Ontario’s newest fine Inn has to have a cause. Our cause is the promotion of the memory and works of one of Canada’s finest poets and intellectuals, Al Purdy.

Al Purdy was born 10 miles up the road in Wooler. He went to school in Trenton briefly and in later years, he lived 15 miles east of us, over in Ameliasburgh. His relatives are all around us. Purdy wrote prolifically about places across Canada and is known as ‘the voice of the land’. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982 and is a literary hero, particularly among writers and poets. Among Ginsberg, Kerouac, Kesey and Cohen to Thoreau and beyond, Al Purdy stands magnificently yet humble and profoundly ours.

Al Purdy and his wife Eurithe lived in nearby Ameliasburgh for many years. This was his last home and was a place of pilgrimage for some of Canada’s best known writers. A classic 60′s A-Frame structure, it is the subject of a campaign, called the A-Frame Trust, to preserve it for future generations. As Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s top writers, said, “The preservation of this home is akin to the preservation of Canadian literary history”. The campaign needs help and we’ll be doing our best to step up. We plan on raising funds through a celebration of his writings and his connection to this area. We’ll post more details in the coming weeks.

Al Purdy at work in his A-frame house on nearby Roblin Lake in Prince Edward County. 1965. This picture is by John Reeves, the eminent Canadian photographer. Its from a photo shoot commissioned by the Canadian Magazine (now defunct). Mr. Reeves has generously allowed his images of Al to be used in the campaign to save the A-frame. Photo by John Reeves

There’s something about this area that’s very captivating but hard to put your finger on. Al Purdy may epitomize this phenomenon of unanticipated connection better than any person or thing. His poetry connects us to this area in unexpected and powerful ways. His view of other places is in many ways a lens that shone back on this place. Like so many here, he left and came back. As he said (poorly paraphrased), he couldn’t ‘feel the grass bend beneath the concrete’. (Author’s note: I promise to accurately quote and properly attribute shortly.)

As proud supporters of local arts, music and culture, we believe there’s no better cause and no better way to present the unexpectedly captivating beauty of our area than assisting with the preservation of the A-Frame and more generally with the memory and writings of Al Purdy.

Al Purdy’s books, letters and poems are available from Harbour Publishing. For more information on Al Purdy, the Wikipedia entry on Al Purdy offers an entry point to further reading.

If you have questions, please contact us!

Dave

The first ever Locaboire Wine Tour took place on Saturday March 13th, 2010. Hosted here at the Timber House, the event was a truly memorable occasion for all! The event marks the launch of Timber House as a the Ontario Inn Locaboire tour hub for Northumberland and Prince Edward County.

What is Locaboire? Pronounced lo-ka-bwaR it’s a term we coined to describe a lover of local experiences, culture, and fare. We started Locaboire at the Timber House to promote an appreciation of Northumberland and Prince Edward County. With Locaboire, we connect people to everything local: places to stay; things to do; and food and beverages to enjoy. In doing so, we provide an enjoyable way to experience our area by connecting to the places where relaxation, celebration and excitement abound.

Want to experience the County wineries with us? Here’s what the Wine Ladies had to say about The Grange and Rosehall Run, two great local wineries. See these youtube videos for a first hand view!