Round Lake Resort

 

 

A year after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the United States economy was in such a hopeless, dismal state that Ben Miller and his wife decided to leave Pennsylvania and move north to experience life as pioneers. After a long search they bought a slice of forest on Round Lake for $500. Their land extended from the Burke cottage (now Pine Cone Park) to the little Madawaska River which is now called the Sherwood River (about 500 yards to the east of Round Lake Resort).

Ben Miller was one of those men with abundant energy who wanted to build a lodge using the building materials and methods of the pioneers. He had all the building materials he needed on his land and, in fact, that is all he used. Labor was cheap, at that time a man could be hired for a dollar a day. The lodge was put together using vertical bark-stripped logs with moss pressed between them held in place by thin saplings. You can see the axe cuts on the logs today where he built the framework for the lodge. He avoided using nails and you can see the hand carved curtain rods with the hand carved supports stuck into holes made in the logs. He also built two cottages closer to the water (Briar & Pickerel) using more traditional log building techniques - laying large logs from the property on top of each other and overlapping them at the corners.

He built the immense fireplace in the lodge using rocks from the beach. Although it is not very efficient at warming the lodge it is beautiful to sit beside and watch the flames on cool summer evenings.

The lodge was built to house visitors who wanted to hunt and fish in the north. He advertised Canadian hunting and fishing holidays in US publications. Visitors slept in the cottages and ate together in the lodge. Meals were cooked by his wife, Marie, and served on handmade tables that we still use in the lodge and some of the cottages. The Millers had fond memories of this time in their life; the work was hard and there was no idle time. We recently had a visitor from New York State who had stayed with the Millers in the ‘30s. He made the trip see again the place in which he had enjoyed such blissful holidays as a young man.

The Fords
In the early 1960s, Ben called into Ted Ford’s TV repair shop in Pembroke and, out of the blue, said “I’ve been watching you. You’re a hard worker. I want to give my property on Round Lake to someone like you.” It was an offer that was hard to turn down.

Ted and Sheila Ford came out to Round Lake to help build what we now know as the Apartment. Ben and Marie moved into the apartment and Ted and Sheila lived in Ben’s quarters beside the large kitchen abutting the lodge. After agreeing to buy the property for $60,000, Ted developed camping sites on the property that extended over to the Sherwood River.

For the next 10 years Sheila managed the cottages and camping sites while Ted commuted into Pembroke to run his TV business.

The Petzinger Years
There is an old airport a few miles east on Highway 58. The airport was used as a training base during the war and is still owned by the federal government for use by troops from Petawawa. The runway is long enough to land fairly large planes. John Petzinger rented the airport in the late ‘60s to run a successful aerial photography and survey business.

John Petzinger and Ted became friends and shared a sailboat they would sail on Round Lake. In 1975 John offered Ted a lump sum to buy the property. Ted accepted and followed Ben Miller to Florida.

As John was running a full time business at the airport he needed someone to run the property. Daphne Hauser had been a friend of the Fords for many years and had visited the property frequently during the summer. John asked Daphne to manage his new business, which he named Round Lake Resort. Daphne accepted and began nearly twenty-five years as manager of Round Lake Resort.

Daphne Hauser
During the Petzinger years Daphne began to make many improvements to the property. She gradually developed her very personal style of management that brings back cottagers year after year.

In 1979 John Petzinger divided the property into sections and began to sell them one by one. Daphne had an option to buy the section on which the Lodge stood. It was an easy decision to exercise her option and buy the property, which she did in partnership with her son Jo in the spring of 1979. John Petzinger closed down his business at the airport and moved to British Columbia.

The cottages that were located on the Pine Cone Park section of the property were bought from the new owner of this land and moved closer to the lodge. Over the years Daphne has made many improvements to the cottages and the land. For her it is a magical place. She spends her summers in the company of cottagers, many of whom have become her friends.