“You’re not moving here if you’re a grump” 

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A new development in the Muskoka town of Bracebridge promises to be walkable, communal, Net Zero Energy Ready and relatively affordable. 121 Woodward by developer SEAN Homes will deliver 36 three-storey townhomes, ranging in price from $500,000 to $700,000, forming a community that will sit on 2.25-acres of infill land in Bracebridge.  

It’s a huge reduction from the scale SEAN founder Sean Mason was building back in the early 2000s when he worked at Mason Homes, his father Gord Mason’s building company.  

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“When I was still with my dad, we’d do 100 acres at a time on the edge of town, with big roads and no walkability,” says Mason.  

The younger Mason went out on his own in 2012, founding SEAN. Today, he thinks small, selecting one- to five-acre sites in a walkable location central to the community. It’s all part of his belief in New Urbanism, a design movement that promotes the development of socially and environmentally friendly communities with accessible public spaces.  

121 Woodward fits that profile, embedded in a central residential neighbourhood just a few minutes by foot from shops, restaurants and big-box stores.  

Residents will be close to amenities and also close to their neighbours. The development’s layout is designed to bring residents together, rather than separating lots and lawns with fences and shrubbery. Outdoor space is no longer a private backyard, but instead a shared central green area, where people can gather to play bocce or ping pong or have a drink with a friend.  

“The design pushes you out the front,” says Mason. “It’s subtle, but it’s real. You’re not moving here if you’re a grump.” 

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At 121 Woodward, the roads are smaller and curvier, and the houses are closer together than in the average subdivision community. 

“We live in an age with an overabundance of loneliness, and part of the reason is that too often communities are designed to make space for the car, garbage truck or snow plow,” explains Mason. 

The smaller roadways mean that regular garbage trucks won’t fit in the complex. SEAN will contract private waste removal, a small price to pay, says Mason, for the reduced car speeds, wider sidewalks and extra green space. 

Eco-friendly building has also long been a priority for Mason. SEAN’s first completed development, a complex of three-storey townhomes in Barrie, was one of six projects nationwide selected for a Canadian Home Builder pilot project building Net Zero Energy Ready and Net Zero Energy multi-unit residential buildings. The initiative launched in 2015 in partnership with Natural Resources Canada. 

 121 Woodward is built to the same standards. Every home is Net Zero Energy Ready, a certification that means it’s been built to specific energy-efficient building codes and has the potential to be truly carbon neutral with the addition of solar panels. All power is electric, and residents can choose to invest in the panels to eventually make the homes fully net zero. 

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“All-electric means there’s no gas fireplace, and you know what? People don’t care,” Mason says. “They would rather have high-efficiency houses.”  

The homes also have geothermal heating and cooling, improved insulation, double-paned windows and cross-laminated timber flooring that will capture and store carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the home.  

Once built, the 36 homes will help fill a dramatic need for housing in the town of Bracebridge. 

“I’ve seen presentations by the Muskoka Chamber of Commerce saying businesses can’t operate because they can’t find staff, because that staff can’t find a place to live,” says Mason.  

He says there is serious interest from the local hospital and school board, which are both considering buying units to house employees.  

And for buyers with a limited budget or an elderly family member, it doesn’t hurt that 18 of the 36 townhomes are divided into two separate suites. These split-unit designs are only recently legal, following a 2022 change in provincial zoning laws. 

“A decade ago, you could add a second suite during a reno, but you couldn’t plan to have that second suite from day one,” explains Mason. 

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121 Woodward was designed and ready to break ground when the policy change was announced, sending Mason and his team back to the drawing board to create new split-unit floor plans. 

Mason has four projects in the works over the next couple of years that will all have two-suite units and adhere to the same New Urbanism and Net Zero Ready philosophies he’s showcased at 121 Woodward.  

“It’s been a long road with a lot of conversations with mayors to change zoning bylaws and allow this kind of density, but it’s been worth it,” says Mason. “People are ready.”  

Suites range from 1,680 square feet to 2,330 square feet with prices from the high $500s to the high $700s. For more information, visit https://sean.ca/communities/bracebridge/. 

Three Things 

Whether it’s tubing down the snowy main street during the Fire and Ice Festival, sipping pilsner from a stein during the local Oktoberfest, or donning rainbow gear for the annual Pride Festival, Bracebridge is often celebrating something on its charming main drag. 

Founded in 1996, Muskoka Brewery has a charming tap room where you can sample a flight, grab a bite to eat, participate in weekly trivia or take in the band on Friday nights. 1964 Muskoka Beach Rd. 

Just a 10-minute drive north of town, the aptly named High Falls is a natural wonder that drops down 100 feet at its highest point and has earned its nickname, Niagara of the North. The area is crisscrossed by trails that wind from the falls’ peak down to 1,500 feet of sandy beach. 

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