aitalk

cot·tage     {kot-ij}

n.     a small, modest house at a lake, mountain resort, etc., owned or rented as a vacation home.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Cottage”.  I used this word for my definition today, because I thought it would be a nice ironic way to explain the house we just photographed.  Don’t be mistaken.  This is a “Cottage” or should I say “Summer Home” which is located on Lake of the Woods in Ontario. 

I’m going to try to keep this short, because this is one example of “a pictures says a thousand words”.  But there are so many unique features about this home to tell you about and it only took us 10 hours to photograph it!  I’ll make comments about the images as you scroll through them.

Firstly, here is the exterior of the cottage.  It is located on a bay and quite a ways up on a hill.  Getting the perfect shot would have meant going out onto the lake.  Only there were two things keeping me from doing that.  1.  The lake wasn’t frozen over enough for me to walk on.  2. There was ice on the lake preventing me from going out on the lake with a boat. 

In the top image, you can see how steep the incline is to the cottage.  The building on the bottom of the hill was one of the other 5 building aside from the main building on the property.  The bottom building is a guest cabin.  The building on the hill, far on the left, is another guest cabin with a full kitchen, fireplace, and loft (also shown in bottom right image).  The home owners built this building first as a “practice cottage” to make sure that they were happy with all of their choices in finishes, suppliers and contractors. No one knew that they were going to build a larger cottage until the “practice cottage” was completed.   

Lake of the Woods, Ontario | personal summer residence

 The foyer is almost like a back door to the cottage, but is just as impressive on it’s own and when you walk in you have a view out to the lake.

foyer at night

The main living space features a spacious living room with a gorgeous stone fireplace.  There is a seating area around the fireplace and a secondary one around a flat screen t.v. on the wall.  The entire cottage is finished in Birch siding which was done specifically to weather the winter when the cottage is vacant.

The two storey custom fireplace is the center piece of the living room.

The grand living room looking west and from the loft area.

The homeowners are avid fishermen and gardeners.  To keep the smell of fish to a minimum, a 3 season cooking area with a dining area to seat 8 was built in one of  the two 3 season rooms adjacent to the main dining room.   A large accordian glass wall seperates the two dinning areas, but easily opens to create a large are for large gatherings.

3 season dining area and fish cooking station complete with an indoor grille and deep fryer.

you can see where the 3 season room in located in relation to the living room and how the glass wall when opened really opens up the space.

 The ceiling of the main dining area, kitchen and foyer are finished in tin tiles.  It creates a unique, warm finish that makes you look up and notice it.

Main dining area with the glass wall partially open.

Dinnig room and kitchen area. The door between the two, leads out to an outdoor kitchen, eating area and a gorgeous stone pizza oven.

The kitchen features hidden appliances with only the commercial grade stove and micorwave visible.  Love that tin roof!

No shortage of cubbard space here in this custom dream kitchen.

The master bedroom is on the main floor and also features a smaller version of the main fireplace.   There is also a private balcony just off the bedroom that overlooks the lake.

Master Bedroom | Lake of the Woods, Ontario | Personal Residence.

Detail of the furniture

Master Bathroom

If you know anyone who could use our services in interior photography, please pass along our contact information.  204.831.8310 or info@aiphotography.com  We are available to travel outside of Winnipeg.