How We Got Here -

How We Got Here

Before this was a lake house, it was just a forest.

In 2018, we left the city behind and took a chance on a piece of land that we had fallen in love with. We spent that first summer camping here, walking the land, getting to know it, and imagining what it might turn into one day.

What you’ll see here is that process — in photos — from forest to finished, built slowly and by hand.

We camped the land while planning our vision for the lake house.

Before any plans were drawn, we cleared the building envelope so we could really see the topography and understand what we had to work with.

We camped the land while planning our vision for the lake house.

Before any plans were drawn, we cleared the building envelope so we could really see the topography and understand what we had to work with.

Because of the Canadian Shield bedrock, we went with an engineered slab-on-grade foundation. It let us minimize blasting while still building something solid and long-lasting.

As the framing went up, we made both small and big adjustments along the way — fine-tuning the structure as it came out of the ground and the house really started to take shape.

Because of the Canadian Shield bedrock, we went with an engineered slab-on-grade foundation. It let us minimize blasting while still building something solid and long-lasting.

As the framing went up, we made both small and big adjustments along the way — fine-tuning the structure as it came out of the ground and the house really started to take shape.

This was the point where it stopped feeling like a project and started feeling like a home

Cutting out the first window opening and finally seeing the lake view was hard to beat — though Candice handing me the last shingle on the roof came pretty close.
Once the windows and screen room went in, we could already picture warm summer nights with friends and family, and the excitement really started to build.

This was the point where it stopped feeling like a project and started feeling like a home

This was the stage where we roughed in everything — all the time-consuming work hidden behind the walls. It was long and tedious at times, but absolutely worth it.

We tried to future-proof where we could, adding things like a fireplace rough-in, future loft, and ethernet across the whole home. The goal was to avoid that “I really wish we’d done this earlier” moment that always comes, once it’s too late.

This was the stage where we roughed in everything — all the time-consuming work hidden behind the walls. It was long and tedious at times, but absolutely worth it.

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This was honestly just the fun part.

Designing the kitchen, choosing the floors, installing the siding, building furniture, and adding the final details. We didn’t buy much — most of the furniture was built by hand, and Candice did all of the artwork, murals included.
This is where the place really became ours.