Geographic location: Lot 10, Conc. 9, Stanhope

Current address: 17526 Hwy 35 at Halls Lake

Date range: ? to present

Interesting facts:

This interesting brick house was built by John Billing, the same stonemason who created St. Peter's Church. It was built for William Cooper and his wife Amy (Welch) who ran it as Hillcrest Lodge, where dances often featured William on fiddle and Amy on the piano. The dirt road in the photo below is now Hwy 35 and the home is privately owned.

In his 1966 Collection of Sketches, "The Tourist Industry", Clayton Rogers tells the story of the start of the tourist industry in Stanhope Township: "A great many folk summered at Hillcrest Lodge situated in a lovely setting on a hill overlooking Halls Lake and operated successfully for a good many years by Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Cooper."

"Most of the cottagers were once tourists”… except for Garth Mole’s family. Source: Halls & Hawk Lake POA website:
"Garth’s grandmother Amy Welch Gartshore Cooper and her husband were the original owners of Hillcrest Resort in Hall’s Lake, which included the stone lodge on the east side of Highway 35 as well as the building across the road that is now “Sage”. Hillcrest Resort was built in the early 1930’s at the time when Highway 35 was being constructed. All the highway workers stayed at Hillcrest while they worked on the new Highway 35. Two buildings, along with a couple of cabins made up Hillcrest Resort. The stonework was done by a man named Billings, who is also responsible for the fine stone work of St. Stephen’s Church on the Buckslide Road. Garth’s grandparents sold the Hillcrest Resort about 1950"

Johnny Down came back after the war with a bride and moved into Hillcrest.

Public access: No

Current use: Private residence

Information source: Stanhope Heritage Driving Tour brochure / Stanhope Museum collection

Photo 1:

Photo 2: Hillcrest Farm ad in The Echo