Caroline Bouffard’s charming waterfront cottage in Quebec
Montreal designer Caroline Bouffard transforms a generic cottage into a soulful escape.
Some cottagers crave fast boats and never-ending parties, but not Eric and Caroline Bouffard — they enjoy lo-fi pursuits such as swimming, paddleboarding and kayaking. So, when the couple — she’s an interior designer, he’s an electrical engineer — searched for a getaway, they knew they didn’t want a rowdy setting that drowned out the sound of the birds, or a cottage where flash trumped family.
“We’ve dreamed about living by the water; I’ve always been drawn to it,” says Caroline. A small lake with an old-fashioned name won their hearts. “There’s something magical about Lake Libby,” she says. “It’s motorless so it’s perfect for swimming, and it’s very quiet.”
Built in 2012, their cottage (or a Québécois “chalet”) is located in Saint-Étienne-de-Bolton, Que. The scenic little village in the Eastern Townships is an hour door-to-door from the couple’s home in Greenfield Park, a borough of Longueuil. That sweetened the deal, even though the cottage itself left a sour taste. “It wasn’t in bad shape, but it lacked style,” says Caroline, recalling the melamine bathroom and generic kitchen. “It was very simple and basic.”
On the plus side were soaring ceilings and oversized windows capturing stunning views of the lake, with sunlight from the southeast flooding rooms every morning. “We saw the potential to set up a little paradise for the family,” says Caroline of the crew that includes their sons, Justin, 23, and Marek, 15.
The chalet reboot was a mom-and-pop operation that was completed on weekends over the summer of 2018. Eric tackled the electrical and plumbing and added a powder room on the main floor, and the couple refurbished an upstairs bathroom. Caroline, meanwhile, infused the 1,060-square-foot space with her signature refined-rustic style. Instead of starting from scratch in the kitchen, she refreshed it by replacing the counters and hardware, and added a new island and open shelving.
White shiplap walls and punchy black accents are crisp yet homey — after all, the grassy woodlands and lake are the stars of the show here. “I don’t like a lot of colour,” says Caroline. “I do the same thing at home: white and black; it’s classic and chic. I like accent colours to come from books, pillows or dishes.”
The rooms have a relaxed, lived-in charm created with low-maintenance materials. A durable cottoncovered sofa in the living room is made for sprawling, and no one will be shown the door if they don’t use a coaster on the wooden dining table. The floors are woodlook ceramic tile so they can handle the dirt, and they’re
heated for when the family comes to ski in the winter (the cottage is 20 minutes away from Mont-Orford, the highest ski resort in the Eastern Townships).
“I wanted everyone to enjoy the place without worrying about damaging anything or being messy,” says Caroline, who often hosts her sister and her two children. No matter who swings by, one thing is certain: they won’t forget the meals. Caroline, the cook in the family, has a breezy approach to entertaining. She sets the picnic table with terracotta platters layered with ribbons of serrano ham, crunchy battered zucchini flowers and a heap of squishy lobster rolls accompanied by chilled rosé. “I like to have plenty, and for everyone to serve themselves,” she says. “It creates a warm, casual atmosphere.” And nothing beats that, not even the fanciest boat on the lake.