Chandos Sunsets: A Lakeside Bungalow Renovation
Story: Walter Francyzk | Photography: Harold Clark
There were more squirrels than people living in their Chandos Lake cottage when Cindy and Jack Gibson caught their first glimpse of the place.
“It appeared there hadn’t been anything done to it in 30 years,” Jack recalls.
But the couple had a vision for the Viceroy bungalow. “We could see beyond what we saw when we first walked in,” Jack says. Cindy, a successful designer and owner of C.E. Gibson And & Associates Ltd., was thrilled with the possibilities. “The cottage needed some serious love, but it had wonderful bones,” she says. “The lot was spectacular with 310 feet of beautiful shoreline.”
On a forested acre of waterfront, this lake house is just a short walk from the year-round cottage of long-time friends Krista and Rob Murray. As teenage girls, Cindy and Krista first met as cottage neighbours on Little Bald Lake. They became lifelong friends. In the early 1990s, when Cindy and Jack, recently married, were invited for a weekend at the Murray cottage, it turned into an annual celebration of summer with boating, swimming, great laughs and amazing sunsets. The day the deal on their cottage closed, Cindy and Jack walked down the road with a bottle of wine and surprised Krista, introducing themselves as her new neighbours. Everyone was thrilled.
At their newly acquired cottage, the Cambridge couple had plenty of work cut out for them. Some of the red pine flooring was sun-bleached, faded and different colours. Clear pine trim was mismatched, some was stained, some wasn’t. The foyer was cramped. Bathrooms needed a major overhaul. “We could see through all that,” says Jack, an industrial electrician by training and vice-president of construction at one of Canada’s leading industrial construction firms.
The Gibsons planned a modest renovation at first with new paint and trim but soon realized the cottage needed much more. They gutted it. Wearing face masks, safety glasses and hats, they tore down the tongue-in-groove ceilings and removed the old insulation, triggering a shower of icky evidence that squirrels had made themselves at home in the attic. They still laugh about it.
In their first summer, Jack ripped off the rickety front deck and rebuilt it. They later replaced windows and doors, removed some walls and built others, installed hardwood, porcelain and laminate flooring, added several doors and windows and enlarged others where they could. “What we wanted to do was start fresh,” says Jack. “The only thing left of the original cottage is the exterior siding and the roof shingles.”
“The biggest thing was creating more efficiency and better sight lines so that you can really enjoy our windows and the view,” says Cindy. “It’s a western exposure so the sunsets are just spectacular.”
Using Accents for Living, a furniture and design centre, and her own company, Cindy furnished and finished the five bedrooms and living areas in a fresh, calm and simple style that she describes as Canadian-Scandinavian. Cloud White walls and ceilings with Simply White trim (both from Benjamin Moore) mirror the northern climate, balanced by the colours of nature. “We, as Canadians, love our outdoors and bringing that in is quite an element of Canadiana,” says Cindy, who worked in construction for more than 30 years, primarily in lighting, and as an electrical estimator before plunging full-time into design. Work with custom builders and private clients, everything from large country homes to downtown condos, keeps her very busy. “I’ve got 18 projects on the go right now.” Some of her work is shown on Instagram @cindygibsondesigns.
Like the prow of a ship, angled walls of floor-to-ceiling windows in their cottage living room point toward the lake, enhancing the view. A couch, love seat and wire-frame cushion chairs, ring the living room. “We did everything covered in cottons and linen,” Cindy says. She and Jack installed a stone wall imbedded with quartz that reflects the changing light in the living room. “Family and friends love the space.”
Greg Boltonand his team of professionals from Kawartha Country Builderswas the go-to guy as Jack and Cindy navigated the renovation. He installed wire-brushed hickory flooring throughout the main floor. They removed an interior wall to create a spacious new kitchen, furnished with simple black maple cabinets below and white shaker-style uppers.Graniteworx supplied dappled granite countertops. The kitchen centrepiece, a long Mennonite table made of two slabs of live edge wormy maple, has room for a dozen or more diners.
Downstairs, renovators removed a wall, a raised floor and closet to make way for two new bedrooms and a bathroom. Light-hued laminate covers the floor. Ductwork for the new furnace was realigned, creating a modified coffered ceiling over the ground floor living room. Original kitchen cabinets were repurposed for the laundry room. Hayes Custom Woodworking built the bathroom vanity.
White-cushioned, woven resin sofas and chairs surround a table top fireplace on the exterior deck. Below the deck, Cindy and Jack used old oak wine barrels, supporting a custom-made cedar table top, to furnish a sheltered wine tasting area.
Greg Bolton replaced a dangerous staircase to the lake with a new wooden stairway, punctuated with glass-sided lookout spots. Jeff Ball of Kawartha Docksinstalled a catwalk and large new floating docks. Derek Boltonof North Kawartha Landscapegroomed the property with perennial plants, granite stairs, armour stone and river rock. “It is great to work with such skilled and fabulous individuals. We feel so blessed and grateful,” says Cindy. “The results are spectacular.”
At this stage in their lives, Cindy says they’re planning for long-term enjoyment. They’ve built a perfect spot for it.
The lake view is their favourite facet of the lake house. Sunset is their best-loved time of day. “No matter how busy you are, people take the time to admire the sunset,” says Jack. High on a hill over the lake, they can watch for a long time as sundown paints the tree line with a ribbon of orange and red. “It’s gorgeous,” he says. “And each one is a little different.”
