§ 01 — THE SITE
Breaking Ground on Lake Rosseau
We’re just getting started on this one. The foundation is being laid out — our foundation crew has been on site for the past couple of days getting the footings pinned and ready to form. Vertex Landscapes, the sister company to our general contractor Vertex Custom Carpentry, is on the excavator doing the rough cut.
The site is on Lake Rosseau, and the property has enough fall to make a walkout basement work on the lake side. That’s a good thing. A walkout basement on a Muskoka lot is almost always worth doing — you gain a full level of usable space, and when it faces the lake, those rooms don’t feel like a basement at all.
§ 02 — THE PLAN
Two Floors, a Walkout, and a Muskoka Room
The floor plan is organized in three bands running across the lot. The entry comes in on one end, with a staircase beside it — a window well running from grade down so daylight reaches the lower level. Beyond the entry: the bedroom wing. And on the other end of the main floor, the living, kitchen, dining, and Muskoka room all face the lake.
The second floor runs above part of the building. The walkout basement below handles additional bedrooms plus a rec room and storage — the utility layer that makes a cottage actually function when the extended family arrives. Not the most glamorous part of a project, but get it right and the cottage works. Get it wrong and you’re fighting the floor plan all summer.
Vertex Custom Carpentry is running the build. They’re a crew we’ve worked with on multiple projects, and the standard of finish they hold is high.
§ 03 · THE TOUR
Watch the Groundbreaking
We filmed this right at the start — excavation underway, foundation being staked. The shape of the lot and lake exposure are both readable here.
§ 04 — THE THROUGH-LINE
A Proper Cottage, Built Right
There’s nothing tricky about what we’re trying to do here. Good floor plan, good contractor, Muskoka room facing the lake. The walkout gives the clients the space to use the cottage with family. The staircase windows make sure the light reaches the lower level.
We’ll be back every few months as the build progresses.
