The visionary who turned Old Chelsea into a new tourist destination

A marina on Lake Muskoka thrums with activity on a recent summer morning. A major sportswear retailer is pouring Aperol spritzes for ladies in yoga wear at a popup brand event. At the docks, a salesman is waiting to hand over a half-million-dollar wakeboarding boat to the customer who has bought it sight unseen, with its custom Italian sound system. “If you hate your neighbours,” he says to the oglers, “these are the speakers for you.” Noise is a big deal these days in Muskoka, eastern Canada’s most stereotypically Canadian holiday spot. Big, exuberant, luxurious, expensive, brash...