Sharbot Lake Country Inn

Sandra and Frank White | Sep 14, 2022

I read your article and thought I should point out that the books location of the murder was incorrect.    A few clients had made reference to the location of the murder but the time lines didn't match up so we did some investigating a few years back.   Matthew Garrett was murdered on November 18, 1876 but the Inn was built by Dr Coutlee around 1906, 30 years after the murder. He intended to open a medical clinic but died before it opened.  Somehow the Inn became the location that was thought to be the crime scene but that is not true.   There were a few other boarding houses in Sharbot Lake around that time, I believe the original Sharbot Lake Hotel where this murder took place burnt down in the 1970s. 

The Sharbot Lake Country Inn & The Crossing Pubs original structure was built in 1906 by Dr. H. Coutlee, who graduated from Queens University in 1882 as a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery. Dr. Coutlee’s plans were to establish his first medical office in Sharbot Lake and open a medical center and clinic with a few beds for short stays. Unfortunately, due to his untimely death, his plan never materialized and he left the building to Dan and Diana Buchanan, his manager and housekeeper. The Buchanan’s later decided to convert the building into a bed and breakfast, and named it The Hillcrest Inn.

Sandra and Frank White