DUNDELA — The birthplace of the iconic McIntosh apple, an orchard south of Ottawa at Dundela, is up for sale.
Owner Gerd Skof is selling the 14-acre property, which includes a 3,100 sq. ft. home, several outbuildings, and three wells, for $875,000. That’s about $62,500 an acre.
Nearing 80 years old, as is his wife, Skof no longer lives at the property. The nearest hospital is 25 km away, and Skof is concerned about the distance with their advancing age. Skof, an accountant from Austria, bought the property in 1987.
The McIntosh apple, though now a recognizable name across the country, was practically an accidental discovery. John McIntosh, a 19-year-old New York expat had settled on the property in 1811. He discovered the characteristically tart apples while clearing bush. Only one survived a transplant, and his son cloned it by grafting its stem in 1835
