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Shangri-La Villa

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Geographic location: Lot 3, Conc. 8, Stanhope


Current address: 1840 Shangri-La Rd on the east shore of Kushog Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 


Date range: 1947 - 1970


Interesting facts:

According to Norma Goodger:

In 1947 Gord & Irene McEachren bought 3.64 acres of Crown land with 295’ frontage for a summer resort on Kushog Lake and named it Shangri Lodge.

Gord & Irene McEachren put in the Shangri-La Road winding southwest from Hwy 35 at Saskatchewan Lake over 3 miles through the bush – a distance of less than a mile as the crow flies. The story goes that in the late 1940s Irene had arranged for a bulldozer to come and cut a road in from Halls Lake to their resort, which they had built by water. But at the last minute she discovered that she did not have the owner’s permission to cross some private land, so she started walking through the bush ahead of the bulldozer, and that’s how the road came to wind through the bush the way its does.

They didn’t stay over the winter, but pushed the seasons by ‘skating on thin ice’ – Irene told of gliding down the lake from Ox Narrows with the ice waving up and down underneath her. Gord was quite an inventor and built an ice boat using an old airplane shell and motor.

The McEachrens became legends in the Shangri La Road area – they were larger than life, much more exciting and flamboyant than their cottage neighbours.

Shangri La Road was not much of a road, and after driving 4 hours from Toronto or 8 hours from Windsor, getting stuck in the mud was the final straw. The first cottagers never set out without an axe and a shovel, and had to use them frequently. Brian Hough recalls  that “even after the road was improved, it could prove troublesome. Dad’s 1955 Mercury had twin mufflers and resonators. On the trip in and out all four were damaged. It made for a noisy trip back to the city for repairs.” There were no cell phones in those days so you walked for help. Broken axles were common. When Joyce Gibson’s uncle got stuck, her aunt got out and walked - she refused to get back in the car.

According to Brian Hough, the theory was that the lodge failed in 1953 because of the condition of the road. In his Memories of Kushog Lake, Brian wrote:
“It was rumoured that the owners had heard the property was to be seized by law enforcement and they left the premises in the middle of a meal. Plates at the kitchen table lent credence to this as they still had partially eaten eggs, ketchup and toast on them. When the commercial refrigerator was opened, several loaves of bread covered in thick mould were found. It took a while but the lodge was soon made liveable. Our grandparents agreed to live at the lodge during the summer while real estate agents brought potential buyers to view the lodge and the cabins.

Some characters put up signs on Shangri La Road to break up the long drive through the bush: Toe Nail Hill, Black Fly Gulch, Road Plowed for Spring Planting, Centre Lane for Passing Only, Woops-Another-Bump, No Passing on the Curve, and No Passing on Solid Line. Some of these names survive in the new civic addresses.

According to Bill Forbes:

In the summer of 1948, Gord McEachren approached my father and said he was thinking of building a road, and if the property owners on the east side of Peach (Kabakwa) Lake would contribute $100 per lot, he would do so.  At that time, there were only three property owners between Highway 35 at Saskatchewan Lake and the shoreline properties on Kushog, each with two lots on Peach Lake.  My father contributed his $200.

In the fall of 1948, my parents, a Reverend Matheson who had a lot beside the traditional portage that we all used for access, and I followed the blazed trail for the road from what is how Toe Nail Hill to the highway.

In the spring of 1949 the construction began, and the hordes of stinging insects at a swampy area resulted in the name Black Fly Gulch.

The only redirect of the road of which I am aware was at Toe Nail Hill.  The blazed trail swung closer to the lake, but after crossing the creek, the workers found they were not able to climb the rocky hill which was too steep, so had to retreat, build wooden bridge, and create what is now known as Toe Nail Hill. In later years, after the township took over the road, the dilapidated bridge was removed and a culvert installed, which created the swamp that exists now.

The actual distance from Saskatchewan Lake to the site of Shangri Lodge/Shangri-La Villa as the crow flies is 2 miles.  The actual driving distance, though significantly longer, is not too bad considering the equipment available and the limited budget.  Roads in that era, including Highway 35, followed the path of least resistance. Those who drove the highway north of Carnarvon in the 40's and 50's recall a road of many sharp bends joined by occasional short straights. It wasn't until later reconstructions that the highway was blasted through obstructions rather than going around.

The Shangri-La Road in its early years was primitive, but for those of us who now had road access to our properties, instead of having to walk in the portage from the north end of Saskatchewan Lake, and then hike around the shoreline path to reach our building sites, it was heaven. 


Subsequent owners:

  • 1953 Elizabeth Hess Smith & Ward Smith
  • 1964 Ray Hopper
  • 1970 Consortium of families - private

Public access: No

Current use: Private property


Shangri-La Villa lodge. Source: Carol Moffatt's Postcard Collection


Gord McEachern's Snow Machine, 1953 made from an airplane engine. Fred Bunch, Tom Caster, Bert Adams