Grindstone House

5/5 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Stayed Aug 2018

DukeMN Los Angeles, CA

The best reunion and family vacation ever

We enjoyed everything about the home and property. Incredible swimming, fishing, time out on the boat and lifelong memories with friends and family.

5/5 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Stayed Jun 2018

We enjoyed our stay very much

Fully equipped house with beautiful views

5/5 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Stayed Jul 2017

Joseph M.

Paradise on the Saint Lawrence

The Howard-Smith house is the perfect place to get away for a restful family vacation. The main house, boathouse and honeymoon cabin are filled with rustic charm, books, paintings, maps, and are clean and well maintained. The kitchen is extremely well equipped. This is a family home, not a resort. The location on a cove rimmed by islands on the north shore of Grindstone Island is excellent. Great place to sun, boat, sail, fish and swim. The many rural paths on the large island allow for long walks and biking along fields and woodlands. Evening sunsets from the front porch are spectacular. The proprietors are always available and helpful when needed. It is a short trip by boat to the Canadian mainland or to Clayton, NY. We have gone there for many years and are already booked for next year. Highly recommended.

Wonderful home with great owner support.

My family's second stay at this home and will not be our last. Our 1000 island vacation is very important to us. Only thing I am willing to plan 6 months in advance. This year the area had historic levels of rain and the water was very high. Sandy (the property owner) contacted me 3 weeks before our vacation and warned us of the high water and offered me a full, no questions asked, refund. After explaining I didn't want a refund she explained there might be an issue with her property's dock being under water and not useable. Sandy found another dock on the island which our family could use and helped us make arrangements to get our truck transported on to the island to get between this other dock and her home. To my surprise, Sandy had a temporary dock build on her property so we didn't have to dock a mile away at the other location she spoke of. When you get up here you'll see that all the homes on Grindstone Island are very nice but owner support like we received from Sandy helps one to rest easy when making vacation plans so far in advance.

One more comment: this year a young man in our group caught a 48 inch Musky! I will not tell you where we caught this monster of a fish but I will say that you can see the spot from the home's river facing porch. I'm sure you'll enjoy this property just make sure you don't try to take my week! ;-) Bruce

July 2015

This is the second time we rented this property. The only complaint we have is that the week goes by too quickly. This place is heaven on earth. Our kids swam, fished and kayaked for a week straight. We can't wait to return.

Great Vacation - July 2009

We had four couples and five children under the age of 5 at the house and it was amazing! The house had everything we needed, was very comfortable and welcoming and the island was perfect! I was also impressed with how well prepared the kitchen was for extensive cooking and thanks to the large dining table, we were able to have all our meals together. It's a great spot for swimming, kayaking, hiking, etc. we really had a fantastic time and would definitely return to this house!

Thanks for a great time!

Jessica

Wow! Pretty close to the perfect vacation

This well kept, very comfortable house is possibly the nicest spot on the River, very private and quiet with amazing views and sunsets. We spent many hours swimming back and forth to the island in front of the house which is owned by the family, also a great spot for a picnic. On this large island you can walk/bike for hours. We saw lots of deer, some turkeys, and all sorts of birds including bobolinks. At night the resident loons serenade. Entertaining the kids was easy. They loved the tubing and skiing which felt safe in this quieter part of the river, fishing is good for a few hours each day and as I said swimming. There's a good selection of board games and puzzles when they tire of all that.

I appreciated the house for it's charming decoration and very well equipped kitchen that made cooking for a crowd fun. The porch was a great place to settle down with a book in the afternoon while keeping an eye on the kids swimming down below. There are actually 6 bedrooms now so even though the family asks no more than 10 guests there are plenty of sleeping options. Just recently they have added a queen size bed in a comfortable new room at the boathouse - only thing is there's no bathroom, not such a problem. The dock is new and comfortably held all 3 of our boats with room to spare, boathouse too. We had a fantastic week. Thank you!

Love this place

I love this place, the huge 700 acre nature preserve that this high end 1930s house sits in the middle of provides privacy that is hard to come by. The view from the front porch all the way to Canada gives you an eagles eye view of everything that is happening on the river. The peace and quiet helps restore my connection to the earth and I return to reality with a new perspective on life.