Our Roots

Our House has deep roots. Take a stroll through our lounge and you’ll travel back in time to the 1800s, when the bar and back rooms of the restaurant were the heart of a log cabin belonging to the Barry family – after whom Barryvale was named. Industrialist and future senator M.J. O’Brien visited the picturesque area on the shores of Calabogie Lake in the late 1800s while surveying it for the construction of his new Kingston and Pembroke (K&P) Railway. He fell in love with the cabin and bought it as his summer retreat, later expanding it into much of the building that stands today. As the story goes, O’Brien used his own railcar to reach the lodge from the main tracks, and even had the engineer carry his bags to the door. Frederick “the Major” Fleming bought the building and adjoining farm and property in the late 1940s. His son Rick, the current owner, took over in the 1960s, and his first wife, Ann, ran the building as the Madawaskinn Lodge for a number of years. Rick went on to transform part of his property into the spectacular 27-hole Calabogie Highlands Golf Resort. The lodge served as the course clubhouse for many years before closing to undergo further expansion and renovation, reopening as the new Highlands Social House in the spring of 2025. Our commitment to preserving and polishing this historic gem is ongoing – as is its story, which continues to unfold more than a century and a half after its first walls were built.