The Four Points Cottage is located on the southwest shore of Lake Manitou on Nighswander Road, directly beside Mountain View Resort. Across the lake one can view the Cup & Saucer and beautiful Manitoulin sunsets.
Stanley D. McGraw, a retired man of wealth from New York, in 1929 had the Four Points built of his own unique design. His design plan was such that each of the four bedrooms had a view of the lake. A hallway runs from each corner of the main room to a bedroom. Each bedroom is a separate entity giving four separate peaks and thus the cottage’s name Four Points. The bathroom design was equally unique, a large room with four sinks along one wall, two toilet cubicles at the end of the room and a shower five foot square with two large windows. The main room has eight windows, three entrances and a large stone fireplace.
The president of the largest department store in Toronto opened his store on a Sunday for Mr. McGraw to purchase furnishings for the cottage. He purchased four extra long iron beds, eight bent-back chairs, eight captains chairs, four large steamer trunks, four stools with extension rods for drying garments and sheets and towels. Meals were eaten next door at the Nighswander camp. Mr. McGraw had a large built in ice box in the cottage.
Women were never invited into the McGraw cottage.
In approximately 1939 Stanley had a sunroom built on top of the northwest bedroom. This had two pews facing the lake and it was used as an after dinner sitting room, to smoke cigars and watch the sunset. Unfortunately, this room was removed.
Mr. McGraw arrived every summer early in July and left the end of August. He enjoyed the Four Points until his death around 1958. Prior to his death, he contacted the Bachman family, who owned the cottage beside him and he had purchased his land from, to give them the Four Points.
The beds, bent-back chairs and steamer trunks remain in the cottage. Present owners are Brenda & Craig Hoyt who purchased it in 2006 from the Bachman family. New wiring, plumbing, roof and some windows have been installed but the intent is to maintain the Four Points historical character. Submitted by Brenda Hoyt for Wind Swept - Spring 2017