The Great Search for Doors

WE HAVE INSIDE DOORS!!!

Mel, Andrew and Nancy went to Toronto for a long weekend via Cobourg where we stopped at Legacy, a wonderful architectural salvage place. We found great porcelain doorknobs and old hooks there. Hopefully there’ll be an opportunity to check out their other treasures once the house is a little further along.

Nancy went on to visit Kath in Paris, and Mel and Andrew met up with them in St. Jacob’s at Artefacts, another fabulous salvage store. It was certainly the pot of gold at the end of a long search for inside doors, and we also found amazing shutters that are needed for the kitchen. Artefacts offers great quality, reasonable prices, fantastic organization, and terrific service - which included shipping the doors to Montreal at a truly affordable price! Both places are definitely worth a stop if you are on the hunt for a little ready-made history.

Scrutinizing the doors

Measuring each door

Progress on the new cottage:

The Duval team has been hard at work at the Lake: the basement cement has been poured, plumbing and wiring is well on its way, and the heating vents are almost all installed. The base for the fireplace is to go in this week and they plan to start closing in some of the walls in the next few days.

Plumbing

Sue and Ric checking out the living room

Kitchen doors with a view of the lake

Nancy and Ric

Montreal's losses are gains for the Lake:

Meanwhile, in Montreal, under Mel’s leadership, the purging of almost 30 years of family living in the same house has begun. Much of it (as pictured here) is destined for the Lake. It is so wonderful that so much of our family history will fill the shelves and drawers of the new cottage.

Mel and Andrew are off to India next week until early July, and they can certainly go in the knowledge that they’ve helped break the back of the moves facing us to the new cottage and to some new and smaller place in Montreal.

Boxes and chairs for the Lake

Nancy Surrenders

Thanks to the persistence of many of you, we have decided to have a second bathroom on the second floor of the cottage! It is only a powder room, mind you, but hopefully a compromise that will make you all a little happier.

The house progresses well in other areas too. The heating vents and plumbing are being installed and the electrician will start to work this week or next. This last weekend we decided on switches, ceiling and wall fixtures, and plug locations thanks to the input of our in-house electrician Dave, as well as Mel and Andrew, David and Tassy, and of course our contractor-wizard Jean-Marc.

Mel, Andrew and I (with the support of Pam Del Maestro) have been hunting for salvaged pine doors and shutters, reclaimed bathtubs on claws, pedestal basins and other wonderful architectural antiques, in the hope of helping the house find its old soul. We’ve some good leads here and are going to have a look this weekend in Cobourg, Toronto and St. Jacob’s (thanks to Goodie Heeney's recommendation).

We are very excited about the progress - the cottage is already wonderful in and of itself, but is similar enough to the old cottage to feel comfortable even in this early stage of development.

Toute la gang

Front entrance

Stairs up to the second floor

Second floor hall

View from the McEntyre's road