Geographic location: Lot 1 Conc. 10, Stanhope

Current address: 3494 Kushog Lake Rd. West side of Hwy 35 at Ox Narrows Bridge

Date range: 1930s to present

Interesting facts:

Ox Narrows Lodge was built between 1933 and 1934 after Hwy 35 went through and still remains today, much as it was in the 1950s although the timber logs have been covered with vinyl siding, and the mynah bird no longer squawks on an open veranda. Duncan Prentice built the foundation for the lodge for $3,000 in 1950. Earl Brickell says that the second floor was put up then by horses pulling the logs up.

The cabins at Ox Narrows Lodge are the same shanties used by the road gangs working on Hwy 35 in the 1930s. The round log lodge (now covered with brown siding) retains its tremendous welcoming charm and the open veranda is now closed in to accommodate restaurant guests.

Joyce Gibson’s memories of Ox Narrows Lodge: Dave and I went to the lodge many times in the late 1940s – to the store for groceries and to get ice for the icebox (we had no hydro then). If Mom or the kids went up, the ice was 25¢ but if Dad went it was 50¢. Guess who was sent for ice? Hank as we knew him was a kind man, quiet and always willing to help you. He never married. Hank had a lump on his hand which he rubbed constantly, and which we kids always stared at. At that time the porch was open and there was a mynah bird on the porch that would talk (sometimes not nice words). His nephew Art and Art’s wife Grace as we knew her helped with running the lodge. Art and Grace stayed in the Honeymoon Suite which was a cabin on the other side of the lake where the original bridge had been. The land went out into the lake and there sat this cabin just like all the others.

Public access: No. Business closed as of 2020.

Ownership History:

• 1933 Henry Penrose, a deeded squatter, who is said to have been the cook for the Hwy 35 construction crew, built the lodge; 1944 Henry Penrose bought Crown land. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 2).
• 1958 Anna Kutzner & Waltraud Lingner; 1970 Ray & Joan Woodhead; 1972 James & Margaret Nethercott; 1972 John Muise; 1975 Paul Daigle Jr in trust; 1976 Anatole & Ingeborg Ewstratin; 1987 Ron & Dianna Reesor; 2006 Derek & Shirley Johannessen.

Current use: Private

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

Photo 1. Source: Carol Moffatt's postcard collection

Photo 2: Cabins at Ox Narrows Lodge, 1958:

Photo 3: 1950's

Photo 4: 1970's