Established 1971

Welcome to the Deebank Village Community Association (DVCA).  We hope you find the following information useful

History of the Association

Our village bears the name of Dee Bank Village that existed in the 1800's at the Dee River. We are not sure why we dropped the space between the first two words. You can see a sketch of the original village along with a good read on its history off the link . I think the original road shown here, is the driveway that leads to the north off Strathdee Road at Dee Bank Road. The present day cottage was owned by the original surveyor of Deebank Village, Bob Waterman.



Ok, so the Deebank Village Community Association (DVCA) hasn't been around since 1868 but we were formed 103 years after John Shannon bought land near the rapids. We do feel we have a connection with the original village. A previous owner to the cottage (Dougherty's) immediately east from the beach decided to create a better swimming area by pumping out the sediment from the bottom of the lake. They had only progressed a few feet when they hit sawdust.  Likely dumped from the sawmill on the river or so the rumour goes.

You may also be interested in the history of Ufford, the small town on the south shore of Three Mile Lake that we share a common history with.

Deebank Village was developed from a camp ground, owned by a gentlemen named McDonald, in the late 1960's, by Northland Development. McDonald's original home can still be seen on the north side of the entrance to Strathdee Road through the hydro lines. A sister development, Deewood Hills, is on the north side of the lake. A road by the same name marks the entrance to that development off North Shore road.

The original purchasers who built cottages were real homesteaders since there was no hydro or phone lines installed. A few cottages that were built by hand/generator still stand today.  Services were installed around 1970 after there were enough owners/structures to justify the utilities installing the lines.

The Village was originally was part of Watt Township (this was before Muskoka Lakes Township was formed in 1971). An interesting historical note is that it was named after James Watt, inventor of the steam engine. You can find more information of the local history at the Windermere and Area Archive. The Reeve of Watt back then (and the last) was a farmer named Vern Bresse who owned what is now the Taylor Farm on Dee Bank Road. He also owned a couple of quarries on Dee Bank Road which he used in his side business of building most of the driveways in the Village. Building permits of the day were issue by Norm Longhurst. The Longhursts were one of the founding families of the area. The Naish's have a permit for their boathouse dated 1970 for $5.00. A side note, Roy Naish can likely lay claim fame to building the most privy's in the Village for the comfort of all.

A number of the owners first camped on their property before building their cottages. In 1971, with a critical mass of owners, the DVCA was created. This supported "Schedule A" of the original purchase agreements that said owners would participate and support a cottage association  when formed. This schedule should still be part of any land transfer today.

As with most associations, it was started to address specific needs. In our case, it was the roads and trusteeship of common properties. Northland needed an organization to deed the beach and one foot allowance to. Northland had already deeded the roads the Watt Township. Ownership of the roads did not mean maintaining them as the DVCA quickly learned.

For the next 3 decades, the main purpose of the DVCA was to raise funds to maintain the roads. This included the main road and the 4 side roads. We had to contract with local companies to fill and grade and trim back the foliage. In some cases, it was replacing culverts that had failed and cause flooding over the roads. In some years, it was difficult to identify how much road work would be. Also, with a majority of lots not having access to the lake, a focus was also put on maintaining the beach.

The beach was created by Northland by placing black plastic down on top of the existing marsh and dumping sand on it (this was when you could still dump sand directly into a lake). In the early years, it was not unusual to find bits of plastic forcing their way to the surface and having to be removed. Slowly over the years, with more fill and sand, we now have a beautiful beach area for all to enjoy but it still requires regular maintenance.

The main method to raise funds for the DVCA was through membership fees. However, then, as today, only a certain portion of lot owners paid their fees. This meant other revenue sources had to be found. The largest, and most popular, was the annual summer beach auction and BBQ. Members and friends would bring down items to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the DVCA. Truth be told, what really happened was people would buy items one year and bring them back the following year. There are still members with purchases from the last auction  in their attics. However, even though the purpose was to raise funds, the real draw for people was the large neighborhood party that it was.

During the year, we also initiated smaller fund raisers like 50-50 draws that worked well because most people simply donated their winnings back into the pot.

The DVCA was very good at maintaining the roads that eventually also included plowing. Yes, in the early days before we plowed the main road, you could get up to the entrance at Dee Bank road in the winter and find you had to walk into your property. Normally this took several trips. Also, you had to do the reverse trips when you went home. We were a hardy bunch. Even after plowing started, it could be a challenge getting up the hill on the main road between roads 3 and 4. Again, neighbours to the rescue and it was not unusual to see everyone out on a cold Friday night helping to push cars up the hill. This was the start of the winter sand barrels that are still maintained today.

The more serious side for the various executives over these decades was repeated deputations to the Township asking them to assume maintenance of the roads that they owned. While polite, the council never saw a need to assume maintenance. The frequency of trips trips coincided with elections of new councils. As time went on, we also faced the ever changing road standards and complications of conditions of provincial funding to the Township for roads. Our roads fell further and further out of standard and available for potential supporting provincial funding.

In 1994 the then President, Jack Dymond uncovered a program for infrastructure improvements with matching funding from various levels of government as well as lot owners. We saw this as really the last chance to at least have the main road broght up to current standards and be fully assumed by the Township. A vote was held and passed with a bond issued for the DVCA lot owners portion. The lot owners could either pay their portions at in a single payment or spread out payments on tax payments. Those on the main road paid more than those on the side roads. In 1996 work was completed on the new high float road which included lowering and raising the road in areas, widening and improving the base. We were told that the cost of the work was reduced because of the care the DVCA had taken in maintaining it over the  years.

Property owners on side roads were concerned that with the assumption of the main road by the Township  it would mean the demise of the DVCA and that they would be on their own for side road maintenance. The entire DVCA association, executives and members, committed to staying formed and maintaining the side roads including plowing in the winter. This continues to this day and with more funds available, we have been able to finally fix ongoing problems like the hill on Village 4 that always used to wash out.

By maintaining the Village, we are not only being supporting our neighbours but also maintaining the values of our own property. We also need to acknowledge that while some of this work is contracted out, a large number of hours are volunteered by members in manual work around the Village. This includes the annual cleanup of the beach and the owners of riding mowers that voluntarily cut the grass around the beach and bulletin board without being asked. There are  also groups that are managing the docks and boat ramp.

Another important role for the association is the stewardship of the common lots jointly owned by all members through elected Trustees. This includes the beach and the all important one foot lot that surrounds the Village. This privacy barrier that Northland created should not be minimized. We have had repeated attempts over the years to connect existing and new roads to our roads. One developer was even able to get permission from, a not too thorough Township employee,  for a driveway connecting on the south side of the main road across from Spring Lake.  We stopped that. Requests for connections with Patti Point Road has come up repeatedly over the years. We turn them down principally because we are concerned in setting a precedent that others could leverage. There is plenty of land between the Village and Muskoka Road 4 that could be developed into cottage lots and advertised with access to our beach even though the owners would not have legal access to it. This means we need to be diligent and not rely on others to protect our rights.

Beside on-going road and beach maintenance, membership fees also go to insurance and taxes for the common lots owned by the association. Without an active DVCA membership, the trustee's would likely be forced to closed the beach because of liability issues. If the taxes were not paid, the Township could step in and allow other roads to connect to ours and open public access to the beach.

In 2011,. the DVCA celebrated our 40th Anniversary. This speaks to the character of the people in the community over the years and that there are always new members to fill the departure of those departing. People are now building year round homes as opposed to just cottages and making Deebank home or their retirement destination. We are much more than just a cottage community with year round residences, the Thompson's by the beach, being the first since 19??.

The DVCA was started,and continues to be run, by neighbours for neighbours. We welcome new lot owners and hope this web page provides some background on how and why there are association fees.We look forward to meeting you at one of our get togethers'.

Pictures (for those who's browser do not show tooltip or mouse over text)

  1. Original Dee Bank Village 
  2. 1970 Building Permit
  3. 1980 Beach Auction and BBQ
  4. Original Dedication of Mike deLaat Park (Beach) - His wife Mary deLaat is in the hat. Mike was a founding member of the DVCA and built 1028 Strathdee Road (Dana's old house).
  5. 2011 - 40th Anniversary Celebrations - Balloon Toss

How to Request Information


Information is mailed or emailed to members on a yearly basis after the Annual General Meeting. In the interest of privacy, we have decided not to post minutes or financial information on this web site.

 If you are a properly owner in Dee Bank Village and would like to receive a copy, please send the following information to dvca@naishfamily.net