Hillcrest Cabins and Ida Lodge

Thomas O. (Tim) Davis, in Waskesiu Memories, Volume III, gives the history of Hillcrest Cabins:

"My dad, Bill Davis, Jack Sanderson and Senator Stevenson built the original eighteen Hillcrest Cabins in 1935….When you drove in on the old highway, the first commercial sign you saw was the Hillcrest Cabins sign, writ large. It would seem to me that if “location, location, location” means anything, the three partners had quite an edge on the competition. The three may have just been lucky but cynics will inevitably point out that all three were strong Liberals. In any event, the partners built twenty-six more cabins and the ten-room, one suite Hillcrest House. My dad eventually bought out his two partners. 

"Like all Waskesiu establishments, the Hillcrest had only seven weeks (July 1 to August 20) to make 90% of its revenues. Dad charged $5 per night for the one room, no toilet, A cabins and $25 per night for the five-room, fireplaced, D (Deluxe) cabins.

"…After my dad died in 1954, we sold the Hillcrest to my cousins, Ted and Becky Case. Ted and Becky brought up their family there and sold out, in the 1970s, to Moe Armstrong. The Armstrong family still owns the Hillcrest.”

The Case and Armstrong families have maintained and added to the cabins. They worked tirelessly to make them modern and convenient adding new roofs, bathrooms, and decks and as well as adding some new ones over the years. Armstrongs purchased and renovated Idalodge to add to their offerings. 

Idalodge was built by a pioneer family in Waskesiu. Grandpa Sweeney was the electrician who did most of the early electrical work in the townsite. He and his wife built the lodge and named it after their daughter-in-law Ida who ran it. 

Hillcrest has customers who return each summer to enjoy a cabin by the lake and to repeat all their favourite activities in Prince Albert National Park.