FARMHOUSE AT THE LAKE
STORY CHARLENE PECK
PHOTOGRAPHY NAT KAY
Describing Daryl Idiens’ new home is all about perspective.
“It’s farmhouse on the back and cottage on the front,” explains Daryl, who purchased the 36-acre Port Carling waterfront hayfield in 2018. He’d eyed the property from the east side of the bay where his family has cottaged since 2012. When the property came to market, the Idiens family couldn’t bear to watch anyone else breathe new life into the land.
This parcel – with its 240 feet of Lake Rosseau waterfront – was part of a nearly 200-acre land grant given to pioneer Roger Mahon in 1900. “The feeling of a farm is special, I think, and the feeling of this farm on a lake is unique,” Daryl says. “We don’t get to have this opportunity very often, especially in Muskoka, so we wanted to appreciate the land that we had. And it took some time to figure it out.”
“Luckily, modern farmhouses are pretty trendy right now,” he adds. “So we merged modern farmhouse and cottage into one, and put it into the hayfield, which we hayed before we dug the foundation.”
Melding inherent farmland character with Muskoka waterfront appeal drove the building design for Daryl and his wife, Melissa, who spent a year walking the property, amassing photos and dynamic inspirational plans for Terry Ledger of T-Squared Design Studio Inc.
The couple wanted an abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors to capture the lake view and natural light. Hide-away automated phantom screens in the three-season Muskoka room, along with sliding doors in the great room, open to create 1,100 square feet of indoor/outdoor space.
The great room is designed for entertainment. With its attractive Rumford fireplace from The Fireplace Stop, luxurious 22-foot cathedral ceilings, 120-inch Ultra Short Throw projector and cosy mini-bar, it is strategically situated in the floor plan, well away from the six spacious bedrooms – each with its own en suite.
Upstairs, a spacious children’s bunk room, envisioned by the owners, sleeps eight in four beds with trundles. It features a large screen television, a children’s book nook and has its own washroom facilities.
Accessibility, a high priority in the design, was achieved with the surprisingly flat building site, a large elevator to the upper floor, sill-less showers and wide doors. Even the two-car garage was extended to include golf cart parking. The cart makes exploring the property barrier-free, including accessing boats at the 200-foot long, 3,200 sq. ft. dock built by Muskoka Crib Docks Ltd.
Building permits were issued on October 18, 2019 and construction of the 7,400 sq. ft. waterfront farmhouse began. Craig Watson Construction Inc. was the lead contractor on site. Local timber framers Cutting Brothers Inc. built the solid fir pergolas and sun shelters outside. GBS Contracting Services Inc. installed the steel and asphalt roofs protecting the home from the elements. Outfitters for the project, Barrie Trim & Mouldings Inc., provided and installed trim and moulding throughout, as well as oak stairs, railings and 96-inch solid interior doors. The work of Barrie Trim & Mouldings solidified the look and style of the cottage.
“They used a 12-inch shiplap throughout, which is becoming more popular in cottages – although it’s not far off from the farmhouse style either,” Daryl says.
Calm, a Benjamin Moore colour, blankets the walls. “I like the name and I like the colour,” he explains. “I used it on every element inside. In fact, all doors, trim and encasements are done in Calm. There’s no white trim in this house.” Grace North Windows & Doors supplied Weathershield windows to enable a wealth of bright natural light throughout the home.
With the exception of the bathrooms and the two laundry rooms, Daryl chose composite-based engineered oak hardwood throughout to minimize flooring contraction and expansion due to excessive lakefront humidity.
The owners’ favourite design magic is found in the spectacular master bedroom, where wall-to-wall, floor- to-ceiling sliders open to the Lake Rosseau waterfront for stargazing at night or watching boats by day. It also features a distressed brick-veneer gas fireplace, all the smart home technology integrated throughout the rest of the home, and a discreet side door offering covered access to the hot tub across the front deck.
Just outside the Muskoka room is the popular 18 by 41-foot in-ground pool with deck jets, a custom bar top and seating facing the lake.
Melissa, along with her mother, Angela Vassallo, led the family’s decorating dream team. “We’d already accumulated a cottage-worth of décor, and we kept some of that furniture,” explains Melissa. “We had a 14-person dining table, which we’ve had in our family for over a decade, and we love entertaining people here. It’s a beautiful big slab of wood that lends itself to that sensibility.”
A map of the three big Muskoka Lakes, a large wooden sailboat adorning the great room mantel and a nostalgic snapshot of family beach fun all fit a niche space in the new home. “So these items get to shine on their own, in addition to some of the other pieces that our family had,” Melissa says. “The combination of all these elements lent themselves to a very unique look that I think fits this property well.” Her husband agrees: “The nice thing about modern farmhouse and cottage styles is that they parallel in design in a lot of ways, so it wasn’t that difficult.”
Barn board and dark, durable leather go equally well in farmhouse or cottage, he points out, and even the solid pine beams in the great room have that rustic, earthy feel at the heart of both decorating styles.
In less than 10 months, the breathtaking Muskoka farmhouse retreat was ready for its first guests. “Everybody who comes here stays longer than they expect,” says Daryl. “The cottage was designed to bring friends and family together. It offers enough room for people to function in their own space quietly, and to join the party when they feel like it. The flow and balance of how the cottage works encourages people to not rush home.”
