‘Mirazule’;
What’s in a name?

In our limited experience (of 2!), one of the hardest things to do when you start a hotel business is figuring out what you’re going to call it.

Should it be descriptive, should it have your names associated with it, one word or a few? It’s easy to get overwhelmed. That is unless you find yourself in the fortunate position of having something obvious to inspire you, in our case our location overlooking beautiful Lake Ontario.

We’ve been lucky enough to be able to travel to, and live in, some wonderful places over the years and we’re consistently drawn to the hypnotic turquoise blues of the Mediterranean Sea. As luck would have it the shores around Prince Edward County are a worthy substitute. Add to this a series of winters living in Lisbon and Miguel’s Portuguese background and language skills (he speaks 4!) and we came up with a made up name composed of two words; 

Mira from the Spanish word mirar “to look” and

Zule (zool) from the word azul “blue”.

Mirazule…  “look out into the blue”. 

It’s apt and we couldn’t be happier. Come and see for yourselves!

Designing the perfect home to share with guests

Our previous historic property was adapted to host paying guests and did so admirably for nearly 15 years, but when the opportunity to design and build a bespoke property from scratch presented itself we grabbed it with both hands. 

Last time it was historic Art Deco style in a rural French town. This time, it’s cutting edge modern design in a breathtaking waterfront location overlooking Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County.

The brief was long and challenging; decadent and luxurious but at the same time casual and comfortable. Guest suites which are beautiful, spacious and inviting, even though we don’t want our guests to hide away in their rooms when the rest of the house is there for them to enjoy (unless, of course, they want to!).  Large social spaces to interact in with friends or other guests, but also smaller intimate spaces if you crave some alone time.  Inside from every room, or outside on the terrace by the infinity pool, you can’t escape that view!

Two years of development with BlackLab Architects in Toronto resulted in the design we are building today – a boutique inn come private residence for the discerning traveller looking for a place to stay that is at once exclusive and out of the ordinary but comfortable and relaxing.

Breaking Ground
Summer 2020

It’s just over a year since we started breaking ground for the footings and foundations of Mirazule.

The design concept sees the property nestled into the top of a small hillside with commanding views of Lake Ontario but ask anyone that’s built a property before and they’ll tell you that there’s a lot involved in digging a hole…particularly on a slope!

Mirazule breaking ground
Mirazule breaking ground

The builders of Prince Edward County know to expect one of two things; either a lot of sand (and not just on the beaches) or a lot of rock, limestone to be precise. In our case we hit rock. Solid, unyielding, stubborn layers of rock! Over weeks our excavations grew bigger and wider and deeper. When the hole was finally big enough and the footings had been formed, our long-suffering builder advised us that there were 40 level changes in our foundations!

We like to think that we are creating a structure that will stand the test of time and be here long after we’re not. Like the proverbial big, bad wolf, the East winds from Lake Ontario can huff and puff, but they’re not going to blow this house down!

Mirazule breaking ground