What to do with bizarre water’s-edge building?
Gmccracken
| Posted in General Discussion on
I recently purchased a cottage in near northern Ontario which has a large building at the lake’s edge. The building has a corridor-like attachment which goes up the hill from the lake and is attached to a shed at the top of the hill. The lower building has a workshop and storage room at the lake level and an open, screened in 12’X20′ room on the second floor, overlooking the lake in 3 directions. The view from the upper room is great. Propane tanks are stored in the workshop on the lower level and are piped up to the main cottage at the top of the hill. The workshop also contains a water pump and water tank for pumping lake water up to the main cottage. The corridor provides a long alleyway clear to the front of the lower building which gives a nice long run for running boards through a table saw. We also use the corridor for a screened in area for cleaning the bass, pike and walleye that we catch out of the lake. The main generator is also located in the corridor and is wired to the upper cottage.
The issue is, that the building(s) is ugly, can be seen glowing white from most parts of the lake and the roof line has a bad lean as the front most piers under the beams are sinking into the soil. All of the wood in the structure is sound with the lower floor having all pressure treated floor. There is no glass in any of the windows, only screens with a wooden slab that is hinged at the top.
I am allowed to keep the building or rebuild it on the same footprint due to a grandfather clause, but I can’t move it. It does block my view of the lake in one direction from my main cottage. It is very convenient, however to have the two enclosed flights of stairs going up to the main cottage as well as the screened in upper deck(which is the only place on the property we can get cellular service). I have hashed around some ideas for renovating it and improving it’s appearance and am attaching some photos. I am really at odds for a good plan for how to make use of the building without tearing it down and losing my grandfathered right to have a building at the water’s edge. I would love to hear some ideas for how to improve this building! Please note, there are no building inspections required in this region, but I do intend to build to standard Canadian code requirements.
Replies
Jack it up level, and paint it in lakeside camoflage colors.
Yeah, first off paint it some sort of "natural" color -- not so much camo, but something that blends with the trees and water.
And I think the roof might look better if its slope were a bit steeper -- not quite the same as the house, but closer.
at first glance:
after seeing the photo from the main house , and seeing how the second floor of the waterside buiding is blocking your view , how about removing that upper floor off the waterside building. put a flat roof on it , then put a deck on it. that imprives the view from the main house, and gets some wieght off the foundation below,.
you didnt say how much land you have , i would assume that you have room further away from the water for addtional accesory structures for workshop, garage, smokehouse for fish,boatshed, etc
at first glance:
after seeing the photo from the main house , and seeing how the second floor of the waterside buiding is blocking your view , how about removing that upper floor off the waterside building. put a flat roof on it , then put a deck on it. that imprives the view from the main house, and gets some wieght off the foundation below,.
you didnt say how much land you have , i would assume that you have room further away from the water for addtional accesory structures for workshop, garage, smokehouse for fish,boatshed, etc
Your sketchup renderings show a rather forlorn and uninspired building being transformed into the same although with a new roof and siding. I suggest that you employ an architect who's work you admire and ask him/her to give you a design that not only fulfils the building's purpose, but gives you something pleasing to look at.
In Google images search for "boat house" -- you'll get a lot of different ideas.
Ideas
Thank you for all of the suggestions, everyone! It's good to get feedback from other sets of eyes. I have about 1.3 acres and plenty of space behind the main cottage to relocate accessory buildings, like the upper shed, etc. I definitely plan to change the colour of the siding to a forest green or brown for all of the buildings. I wouldn't rule out tearing it down and rebuilding it in a more appealing style. The footprint of the lower building is 12' X 20'. However, the less I need to tear down and can reuse as is, the better. The lot is 3 miles by boat from any road, so it's expensive to get any heavy equipment in there.
edited to make Gregs post visible.
Thanks!
Thank you everyone, for the ideas. I wouldn't rule out tearing it down and rebuilding it to a different style and I do have 1 acre behind the main cottage for relocation of the shed or workshop. I appreciate all of the feedback!
My first reaction when looking at the building is thinking the upper level would not only look better but be more intersting and useful if there were as many big windows as possible all around the upper level. Sounds like you don't need another rather normal building, but rather something that's different and fun.