Cottage Kaleidoscope

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Cottage Kaleidoscope

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Thanks for that Ray!

I could look at cottage pictures 24/7! I "shop" cottages even though we have no intention of buying!

That looks like a great place, too. It looks 100% cottage, just like it should. I can do just fine without a million dollar mansion on a lake. There's just something about "humble".

You are blessed...

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Thanks Carl, it is 100% cottage but as you can see a family gathering place too. Hard to describe cottage life to someone who isn't a "Cottager"but it is in us all in the White family. My youngest and my niece are heading back up tomorrow since they got their work schedule and don't need to be back until Friday. Ryan is there all summer as he works as Warden at the Provincial Park nearby. I'm going to try and get another stretch of days in too before Labour Day.

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

Thanks for the pictures Ray. When my inlaws retired they moved to Port McNichol. I visited there a few times and really liked the samll town. The cottage pics were beautiful. We sold our cottage last summer after owning it for 10 years and I can honestly say I do not miss it. The main reason is because we live across the street from a small glazier made lake and are a couple of miles from town. If the weather is hot we just go for a swim across the street where the water is always really cool being spring feed and no motorized boats allowed.

It also helps that we took the proceeds form the cottage and now own our winter home in Largo florida.

Al

67SD396 · Poncho Master!

Wow! Those pictures of your cottage, family, and lake are incredible Ray!

I Love cottage life as well. Carl let me keep the mice out of their cottage last summer for a little over 5 weeks. (Thanks again Carl)

There is no better way to spend time with family than at the cottage. The past two summers, Carl's sister has been having "Christmas in July" at the Stevenson cottage on Lake of the Woods. She invites any family who can make it for a holiday and turkey. This year there were 10 Albertans (4 kids) who made the journey!

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

5 Weeks ! Boy Mike you must be Carl's favourite !

I'd love to go to the Lake of the Woods for some turkey in July, what a great idea and nice way to get family together.

There is something about the cottage that gets everyone cooperating and happy, no one seems to mind that there is no dishwasher, one washes, one dries and they gab the whole time, never a problem getting someone to cut firewood and how about those imprompto strolls along the trails that always seem to attract a pack of people.

We especailly gather around the camp fire at night, captivating to be outside gazing into the flames under the star soaked sky.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

73SC wrote:

5 Weeks ! Boy Mike you must be Carl's favourite !

Now the secret's out! Actually, it's not much of a secret in our family I don't think!

You are so right. The whole cottage thing is SO different that to a non-cottager, you can't even begin to explain it. I cannot get people to understand that it's not work for me to go and do little projects at the cabin. I absolutely loved figuring out our solar setup, wiring the cabin etc etc. We have a no maintenance yard there. It's totally natural. We just trim branches if they block the path. No mowing, no weedeating.

At the lake, you can quit the project any time you feel like it AND have the bonus of going fishing, skiing, swimming etc whenever you feel the urge. Plus, kids are much easier to manage when they have water to entertain them endlessly!

And we have yet to catch a mouse in our place. Mike must have done a great job!

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

It seems to be such a Canadian thing to have a cottage. Do other cultures have this ? I have a few American friends and never seem to hear them talk about such things.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I honestly feel we are blessed Ray. I am convinced that by the time my kids retire, only the rich and famous will be able to afford summer cottages.

timbuk · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

very nice Ray big trees and water looks like the coast almost! And I agree with Carl soon only for the rich and famous,as long as we dont get taxed out of them.My one room cabin,an old bunkhouse is being encroached by development.The island is getttin full!

65sssd · Poncho Master!

Carl, only Northern Ontario and Northern Manitoba areas with big land will have those spots for a lower price. Vancouver Island is plugged and we should seperate like PEI and get rid of Campbell.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

65sssd wrote:

Carl, only Northern Ontario and Northern Manitoba areas with big land will have those spots for a lower price. Vancouver Island is plugged and we should seperate like PEI and get rid of Campbell.

PEI is a gorgeous island this time of year ... Canada's best kept secret.
VERY affordable water/ocean front property. A nice house/cottage here is cheap, cheap, cheap!

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

65sssd wrote:

Carl, only Northern Ontario and Northern Manitoba areas with big land will have those spots for a lower price. Vancouver Island is plugged and we should seperate like PEI and get rid of Campbell.

So far northwest Ontario is not too bad. Some areas are out of reach but if you are willing to drive an extra hour or so to your destination, you can still get something decent on a nice lake in the $200's. Under $200 is starting to get tougher to find unless you are willing to go at least 5 hours from Winnipeg.

PEI sounds like it would be a great place to retire!

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Trying not to brag, but almost dead center of each pic. is the piece of land my Wife & I live on year round (2 aerial views) . We have access to a private little red sand beach below our cape (cliff) where my Wife hunts for seaglass. I want to take pictures of my car down by the capes when I get a chance.
The top pic. has one of the 2 lighthouses (Cape Tryon Light) in it that we can walk to.
It is on the Gulf Of St. Lawrence, north shore.

Cape Tryon.jpg

In Winter it is a whole other scene (little icebergs etc.), and windy!

-- Edited by Pontiacanada on Tuesday 10th of August 2010 08:15:19 AM

Taylor55 · Poncho Master!

Even in Northern Ontario cottages are getting up in price. We listed our cottage on a free website called Myzer. The cottage was on 9 acres of land with about 200 ft of water frontage. The waterfront was mostly a weed bed but we had gotten a permit to clean out a 10 ft wide section. Getting the permit was a real pain in the butt. The cottage and out buildings were ready to be torn down and we had to make a choice either build a new home on that land or sell and keep our home that we had. At 56 years old and with two screwed up ankles I did not want to take up that big of a project. We listed the cottage at $75,000 and it was sold in 45 minutes after the add was posted. We doubled our investment in 10 years and got to enjoy the cottage living for that period of time.

One of the main reasons we sold is the fact our son lives in Toronto and he has no intention of coming back to live in Timmins. If he lived here we would not of sold it we would have just let him have it.

The plus side for us was buying in Florida was the fact Florida was in a depressed market. It is also a lot cheaper for our son to fly to Florida than to fly from Toronto to Timmins.

We both loved the cottage life but found we were using it less and less every year and if we really want to spend time at a cottage we will just rent one for a month every summer. We also kept our old 1992 seadoos so we will have a couple of toys if we do rent or just want to go for a ride at a lake and there are literally hundreds of lakes in our area.

My advice for those who are dreaming of owning a cottage is to rent in Northern Ontario for a summer and really get the feel of cottage life. Carls words of it is not really work when you are at a cottage are the truth. The pace is slower, very relaxed, no pressure to get the job done. You have to be a somewhat of a handyman to maintain a cottage ie installing and removing the water pump, annual building maintance etc.

You should also check the MNR every year to find out what lakes they are planning to open up for cottages and sign up for the lottery as the lots are all prepriced and sold on a lottery basis, first drawn gets first lot choice.

Al

timbuk · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

im pretty lucky to have a half acre in lake cowichan with a cabin but like i said development is encroaching on it FAST. Sure it has gone up lots since i bought it but i didnt buy it for that Campbell has jac ked up the price for camping so much that it seemed like a good idear to buy it.I have had lots od BS with the regional district as the land is zoned residential but with some legal help the grandfather clause came in Beauocratic BS up the yin yang.PEI is a stunning place very beautiful,have travelled the island and the atlantic provinces land is very reasonable there!

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

We just bought a cottage on Lake Huron it was a steal $93,000 and there is water and sewage availble next door .....

Sackville Dec 07 011-1.jpg

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Hey Darryl. we love PEI too, I have sepnt time at Cavendish Beach and the Stanhope Lodge, great holiday! Your place looks awesome.

JetFan · Veteran Member

We sail out of Thornbury Marina so I know about those waves. Great place to be.

65sssd · Poncho Master!

PEI was a nice place. The people were great and I found some great guys with nice car collections too. Everybody said there was no cars there but I found out different. I parted a 64 Acadian there too so I will have some parts for sale soon. It's unrelated to this thread.

timbuk · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Carl that is a real neat lookin cabin I like it