History

125 Years of Recreation

One glance at the Tory’s Landing property and you’ll see why it’s been a natural recreation site for nearly 125 years.

The land was first settled in the mid 1800s by William Roehl, a Lutheran minister who emigrated from Germany. It was not until 1883, after William’s nephew, Otto, inherited the property, that hearty campers from Pittsburgh discovered this wild, yet captivating, destination.

As the steamers  from nearby Port Stanton filled with more adventurers, the Roehls built cabins and eventually a 49-room hotel. In 1919, Jack Tresidder Sr., a veteran of the Great War, purchased the building and adjoining property, renaming it Hotel Torpitt, after the many guests who called Toronto or Pittsburgh home. Incredibly, Torpitt Lodge was operated by the Tresidder family (Jack Jr. and his wife) until 1998, despite burning to the ground in May of 1939.

In 2004, developers, John Puffer and Joe Giglio, founders of Chandler Point, recognized the site’s natural beauty and purchased it for redevelopment as their third shared-ownership cottaging property. They renamed the site Tory’s Landing, after John’s young daughter Tory.

Sparrow Lake

While Northern Ontario abounds in natural lakes, few can rival the beauty of Sparrow Lake. Bordering the southern rim of the Canadian Shield between Muskoka and Simcoe County, Sparrow Lake offers a perfect combination of size and privacy. Big enough for boating and exploring, but small enough to avoid overcrowding, it’s ideal for swimming, sailing and all manner of water sports.