Building Wheelers Pancake House

Vernon and Judy started making maple syrup here in 1980. Visitors were always welcome during “sugar making” to see the maple syrup being made and to buy some of the fresh maple syrup. Over the years, Vernon received countless requests for pancakes. With grand visions, high hopes and a touch of gumption the decision was made to open a hall to serve pancakes with Wheeler’s own maple syrup. In 1995/1996 the whole family, along with friends and local contractors, worked to build the new Pancake House and Sugar Camp building. The official opening was on March 1st, 1996.

Our Canadian Lodge Style dining room opened in 1996 but its history goes back much further.  The massive white cedar logs used to construct the building were reclaimed from old barns and houses from a across Eastern Ontario.  Many of these old growth logs came from dilapidated old barns that were built over a century ago.  The other materials including the hulking roof trusses were cut from our own forest surrounding the sugar bush.
Nestled in the centre of our 730 acre forest, huge windows allow a true sense of being in the woods. Every season paints a different picture.  In the Spring when sap is flowing you can watch the maple sap as it flows through a clear tube within view of your table.  The centrepiece of the dining hall is the handcrafted stone fireplace built from stones collected right here on the Highland Line.