I knew something was wrong because Tom was running.

It was a foggy early morning on Vermilion and we were just boarding the pontoon to go meet some family friends at their island for breakfast. I quickly got all the kids off the pontoon and we ran up the hill to check to see what was wrong, then I smelt it, smoke. You couldn’t see it because of the fog, but you could smell it. It was coming from our 108 year old boat house. 

By the time I realized what was happening (remember I had three kids with me), Tom was running down the hill with a fire extinguisher. He was able to quickly put out the fire before it spread and caused any damage. Tom estimates that had we waited a few more minutes the boat house would have been a complete loss. 

Why does this matter? 

The boat house is one of the first buildings that the first resort owner Robert “Bob” Rutherford constructed on the property in 1915. His vision as detailed in an article by the Tower Weekly News dated 9/17/1915 mentions that he was constructing a dock and large boat house at that time, the exact same boat house that we still have today!

Today, the boat house is still very much an authentic building from the past. We still have the same structure and layout. There is even a signature wall near the gas dock that has signatures carved into it by guests, locals and friends that date back to the time the boat house was built. 

The diving board that you can see in the black and white photo was a local hang out in the early 1940’s. Kids would ride their bikes from town to go swimming at Vos Resort. Rumor has it that dock staff would throw a hammer into the lake and the first kid to dive down and find it would get a nickel to buy ice cream. It was removed a few decades later, likely due to safety concerns.

It may not be the most modern or beautiful structure, but our boat house is a historic structure with a story to tell. It is something that we have worked hard to preserve over the years and love sharing with our guests!