160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ Lemonville Floating Mansions

"Things To Do

The Ponds of Lemonville

By Newmarket Era

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The scenery throughout York Region tends to be fairly ordinary. There is, however, a stretch of countryside which is anything but.

Atop a sandy hill in Whitchurch-Stouffville lies a small hamlet of elegant homes which appear to be floating on water.

Beneath the topsoil is water that does not come from a river or lake but an underground reservoir. Rainwater goes right through the permeable soil, creating high water levels at the bottom of the hills. As the water flows through the soil near the top of the elevation, it comes upon a harder layer of earth. Some of the water moves very quickly to the bottom while the remaining sits near the surface forming an underground lake with only a layer of dirt above it. Water spouts like a fountain whenever the rapid water force causes the surface area to break.

Author Ron Brown has highlighted what he calls The Floating Mansions of Lemonville in his book, as one of the “Top 100 Unusual Things to see in Ontario”.

To see this incredible mirage, take a drive south on McCowan Road about one kilometre from Bethesda Road and two kilometres west to Kennedy Road."