Over the last two years, Lally Developments has been hard at work transforming MartinWood Golf and Country Club Resort into a year-round resort, banquet hall and hotel. Now they’re ready to build cottages.
Since purchasing the Harcourt property two years ago, developer John Lally and his father, golf course architect Jack Lally, have been readying the property for cottages.
“The beauty up here is not what we could get elsewhere,” Lally said in an interview.
“The elevation changes are spectacular.”
The cottages will be affordably priced, around the $160,000 mark, with access to snowmobile trails, hiking trails, Benoir Lake and, of course, the golf course, he said.
On Friday, Lally officially launched the development with support from Haliburton County Warden and Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey and Councillor Steve Pogue.
Lally hopes the resort will serve as an attraction to the Harcourt area, providing up to 30 jobs in the summer and creating traffic to other local restaurants and attractions.
For example, while there is an on-site pub at MartinWood, Lally said most guests who stay for several days want to travel around and try out local restaurants.
Lally Developments and Lally Golf are responsible for several other sites, including River’s Edge Golf and Country Club in Bancroft, Whitetail Golf and Country Club in the Lindsay area and Bear Creek Golf and Country Club in Strathroy, Ont. MartinWood was approved to build 78 units in the development they are calling MartinWood Country Club Estates. Each will be between 800 and 1,200 square feet backing onto forest.
Most will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and will give owners the opportunity to rent out the space through MartinWood when they aren’t using it.
“The idea for a lot of people is the cottage is becoming a lot of work and not just play,” Lally said.
MartinWood will take care of cutting the grass, shoveling snow, etc., all included in a maintenance fee. Lally said MartinWood will be a natural stop for snowmobilers going from Ottawa to Huntsville as well as golf enthusiasts.  His father, who has designed golf courses for 55 years, helped him revamp the former “tired” 18-hole course into “a wonderful nine holes,” he said.
The suites in the resort have been renovated as well. At the beginning of November, Lally will begin selling the new units, which he said are targeted to all age groups.