COLUMN: Viewpoint – The sacred space of a cottage
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I spent a couple of days in July at my brother and sister-in-law’s cottage at Moose Lake. My grandparents bought the place in 1960. My parents inherited the cabin from them, and my brother and sister-in-law purchased it from my mom and dad. Though I’ve lived in approximately twenty different homes for at least a year or more in my lifetime, the cottage has remained a stable touchstone for me, a place I’ve visited annually since I was seven years old.
Every time I return I’m flooded with memories of canoeing past the eagle’s nest that has been at the lake’s north end since I was a child-skinny dipping at midnight, swamping the old rowboat, picking eels off my arms and legs, my uncle teaching us to play gin rummy by the light of a kerosene lamp, my brother swimming across the lake, my aunt running out of the outhouse with her pants down when a mouse scared her, my grandfather showing us how he learned to dog paddle during military training, skiing five behind the boat with my cousins, watching dragon flies hatch, catching fish, playing hours long Monopoly games, building rafts, chopping wood for the stove, tubing, reading Nancy Drew on the dock and making smores round the campfire.
These memories are almost sacred and I’m glad they are being kept alive for future generations by our family’s continued ownership of the cottage. I realize maintaining a traditional summer home for a family is not without its complications and costs. I appreciate the way my brother and sister-in-law continue to invest the time and money needed to preserve our four-generation lakeside retreat.
Having a cottage is a Canadian tradition that gained great popularity during the post-Second World War years. I think one of the reasons it has endured is there are so many bodies of water within a reasonable drive from large urban centres which makes them especially appealing. Moose Lake is only a 90-minute jaunt from Steinbach and a 2 hour and 15-minute drive from Winnipeg. This makes it possible to drive out to a second home just for the weekend.
I thought perhaps cottage ownership would be on the decline in Canada right now but discovered from reading a variety of financial and real estate reports, that although there are some regional fluctuations in play, the number of Canadians who have cottages has remained relatively stable. In fact, an increasing number of people are turning their lakeside summer homes into permanent year-round ones when they retire.
I might have speculated that the recent troubles with our American neighbours, and the ensuing precariousness of our economy would have made people somewhat wary of new financial investments. Quite to the contrary it’s motivated some Canadians to put their properties in places like Phoenix and Palm Springs on the market. They are looking to reinvest that money in Canadian holiday homes.
I’ve been reading for some time now about the large wealth transfer that has begun to take place as successful baby boomers pass on their substantial estates to the next generation. Often that estate includes a cottage.
One might think that the recent wildfires across the country would impact people’s desire to own a cottage or make them more difficult to sell. But that doesn’t seem to be happening. Rather people are looking for ways to protect their cottages from future fires. A California study done after wildfires there, showed they had little long-term impact on real estate prices.
For many Canadians, going to a family cottage is a part of their cultural identity and personal history. I’m happy to know that probably isn’t going to change anytime soon.