Homes For Sale in Bigwin Island Golf Community

About Bigwin Island Golf Community

Bigwin Island Golf Community is a golf-course community in Lake of Bays set around Bigwin Island Golf Club. Homes here are typically detached houses and townhomes, many with fairway frontage.

Golf-course buyers are buying a lifestyle: morning tee times, generous lots, and a built-in view. Every listing below sits inside the community boundary shown on the map.

The homes of Bigwin Island

Bigwin Island is not a conventional residential community at all — it is a 700-acre private island on Lake of Bays, accessible only by ferry from Norway Point or by air, where the 'homes' are club cabins and legacy cottages wrapped around one of Canada's most celebrated golf courses. The current residential story is owner Jack Wadsworth's revitalization plan: a community of 40 architect-designed club cabins by Halifax-based MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, which won a Canada-wide design competition in 2014. The cabins run 1,230 to 1,350 square feet in three landscape-driven templates — linear on the lake, courtyard in the woods, pinwheel in the meadow — with cedar-shingle extruded roofs, glazed pavilion living spaces, screened porches and decks sited for views down to the golf course and the lake.

The island's deeper residential layer is the Muskoka Condominium Corporation #1, formed in 1969 after an auction of apartments in one of the historic lodge buildings — old hotel rooms converted to condos in the 1960s that still come up for sale, strictly private with no motorized vehicles beyond the corporation's own. Between the legacy condos and the new cabins, ownership on Bigwin is a patchwork of eras, each with its own title structure, corporation and rules.

No current listing prices for Bigwin Island properties were seen this session, and buyers should expect the market to be almost entirely private — island properties trade through the club network and specialist brokerages, not the public MLS. Treat any purchase here as a trophy acquisition: retain a Muskoka lawyer experienced with island title, condominium corporations and water-access-only properties, and budget for the full cost of island logistics, from construction materials to a missed ferry.

Amenities and daily life

The amenity is the island itself: an 18-hole, par-72 Doug Carrick championship course opened in 2001, rebuilt from an abandoned Stanley Thompson layout, playing 7,166 yards from the championship tees through undisturbed forest with the par-4 sixth and par-5 18th offering Lake of Bays vistas ranked among the best in North American golf. ScoreGolf has ranked it as high as 6th in Canada; Golf Digest places it among the country's best. It is private — playable by members and their guests, open to the public only in spring and fall — with a restored clubhouse, award-winning cuisine and an all-day-experience service culture.

Beyond golf, the island offers the full Muskoka waterfront program: boating on Lake of Bays, the historic lodge and dock infrastructure, wedding and event facilities in the restored buildings, and 700 acres of maple, pine and ash forest. The mainland service towns are Bracebridge (about 30 minutes southwest of Norway Point) and Huntsville. Daily life here is seasonal and self-sufficient by necessity — there is no popping out for groceries without a boat schedule.

Location and the commute

Bigwin Island sits in Lake of Bays, roughly 30 minutes northeast of Bracebridge, and is reachable only by water or air — ferry service runs from the Bigwin Island docks at Norway Point, and reservations for island access are mandatory. From the GTA, the drive to Norway Point is about two hours, plus the five-minute boat ride that starts every visit. There is no commute framing that makes sense here: this is a second-home and club-membership island, full stop.

The practical questions are all logistical: ferry schedules and winter access, float-plane options, mainland parking and storage at Norway Point, and how services — from contractors to groceries to medical care — reach an island with no bridge. Anyone considering ownership should spend time on the island across seasons before committing, and talk to existing owners about the true cost and rhythm of island life.

Bigwin Island market snapshot

There is no public market data for Bigwin Island, and that is structural, not accidental: private-club island properties trade off-market through member networks. No asking prices were seen this session. For context on the tier, Muskoka waterfront and golf-club properties of this calibre trade in the multi-million-dollar range, and the MacKay-Lyons cabins are architecturally significant new builds on one of Ontario's most storied islands — named for Ojibway Chief John Bigwin, home to a glittering 1922 resort that hosted Canadian industrialists, Hollywood stars and the Dutch royal family before the Bigwin Inn closed in 1970.

The honest guidance: do not buy here on price momentum. Buy for the island, the club and the architecture, with a hold horizon measured in decades. Engage a Muskoka appraiser who has actually valued island properties, and verify title, corporation obligations and access rights with a lawyer before any money moves.

Buying on Bigwin Island: what to check

First, map the ownership structure precisely. The island layers private club lands, the Muskoka Condominium Corporation #1 (legacy lodge condos with strict private rules, including no outside motorized vehicles), and the newer cabin community — each with different title, fees, rules and resale mechanics. Confirm exactly what you would own, what the corporation controls, and how resale works before anything else.

Second, diligence the club. The golf club is the economic engine of the island; confirm membership categories, initiation and dues, whether cabin ownership includes or requires membership, and the club's financial health. A private island club is only as secure as its membership roll.

Third, price the logistics. Everything — construction, renovation, furnishing, maintenance, even a forgotten prescription — moves by boat or plane. Get real numbers from island contractors and the ferry operation, confirm winter access arrangements, and make sure your insurance covers a water-access-only property.

Frequently Asked Questions