LIVING THE LIFE AT THE LAKE
The lady of the lake A Calgary couple brings a grand 1904 Quamichan Lake home into the 21st century with a year-long renovation
Transforming a classic 1904 home on Quamichan Lake into a modern manor house required a massive renovation that lasted almost a year and took a lot of elbow grease and vision. “It was a labour of love,” said Lynn Clark, who bought the property with husband Allen Brown last year.
The result is a welcoming character home with a modern interior and a French country flavour.
The Duncan-area home sits on six hectares of landscaped property that slopes gently down to the lake, with views across to Mount Provost. “It’s about a 10-minute walk down to the water,” said Clark, who added her passion for home design began when she starting moving furniture around her house starting at age five.
Her 25 years of experience working in interior design, home renovations and building in Calgary enabled her to assume the role of general contractor for this project. She has spent close to $700,000 so far to restore the heritage estate, formerly called Woodcote. She and her husband have renamed it Maple Bay Manor.
The renovation included almost everything from the ground up, including all the window ledges, which had to be replaced due to dry rot. She decided to retain all the original single-pane glass windows, however: “Some of them have bubbles in them and when the sun comes though, it’s like a mosaic on the walls.”
The old knob and tube wiring was removed and the entire house replumbed. The kitchen and all the bathrooms were replaced, and a new septic system installed. Throughout, the couple sought to retain the home’s original character, while adding modern amenities.
“We have finished at last and have the depleted bank account to prove it,” Clark said with a chuckle, although she is still adding furniture and putting finishing touches on the décor. “I’ve been spending like a banshee, so my husband has continued working in Calgary, making the money.”
This is their full-time residence now, but they both still commute to Calgary, where she also has a few jobs on the go.
Her husband, who is involved in the oil and gas business, hopes to retire in about five years. In the meantime, she has started running the 4,000-square-foot home as an upscale retreat.
She created three spacious bedroom suites upstairs, each with private ensuites and staggering views.
“Learning all about the B&B industry has been fascinating, and meeting so many guests has been wonderfully interesting,” she said, adding that moving to the Cowichan Valley has been a tremendous adventure, too.
“I’m a city girl who has gone country. I’ve even learned how to drive a tractor recently.”
While renovating, she opted to reduce the home’s size by about 830 square feet by removing some small additions, as well as a rustic cottage that once served as servants’ quarters, and was later connected to the big house.
“From an engineering and structural point of view, they were not in very good shape, and we discovered ivy had grown into the building there.
She also restored the kitchen’s century-old character by re-creating a large pantry and separate mudroom on one side, and designing a new layout around a beautiful Heartland stove.
Now that it’s a full commercial kitchen, she hopes to bring in chefs for cooking classes, or to create special-event meals.
On a brick wall where a potbelly stove used to stand, she installed a double-sided fireplace from Superior, out of Quebec.
The see-through fire is positioned in a wall between the kitchen and dining room.
“It’s wonderful because you can use it as a fireplace to heat the house and you can also cook on it. And when I’m in the kitchen, I can see through it and out to the lake.”
She christened it recently by cooking a lamb roast there.
One of the big surprises in the kitchen was the discovery, once they started opening up the walls, that a large beam running across the space was not supported.
“It was rotted through, so we replaced it and added another faux one to balance the room.”
The old damaged flooring was replaced with slate, and a new island about three times as large as the original was installed.
She wonders now if it isn’t a little too large.
“I’m only five feet tall and wish I had another two inches of height when it comes to washing the middle,” said Clark, who was born in South Africa and came to Canada with her parents as a child.
During an inspection, they discovered the house, which is built on a crawl space, is supported by a couple of 30-inch-diameter tree stumps and old piles, which are “still solid and in great condition.”
Because the crawl space is dry, the couple left the stumps and piles in place, but added concrete skirting around the edge.
Clark complimented the work of several contractors involved in the reno, including Twin Tile, JS Plumbing and Heating, Appleby Electric and Twin Oak Woodworking.
She explained her next project will be to restore the century-old landscaping and vintage gardens. “The property is stunning, with old-growth forest, a big pond and a little creek, and it has a lot of history, but it was quite overgrown.”
Six gardeners worked there for four months last year, “getting the weeds under control, going after the blackberries and the ivy that is climbing up and killing many trees.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of mulch you need here to keep the weeds down. We’ve had five loads of 40 yards each delivered and will need more this year.
“Everything grows like crazy here.”
The couple has been told there were once as many as 1,000 rhodos on the property, but she hasn’t counted them all yet and suspects some have died. “Apparently, it used to take past owners three months to deadhead them all. So we’ll learn about that, too.”
This spring, she plans to add 1,600 lavender plants, which she will dry in the smaller of two old barns. The property also has a large 1904 barn, which she will renovate after engineering and structural reports.
The owners love the Cowichan Valley and have visited once a month for the past 20 years, to see Clark’s parents.
“I’ve always had an affinity for the water and the ocean and it’s so green here,” she said. “We appreciate the quietness and tranquility, and the way you get to know your neighbours here. It’s a very special valley.”
Ironically, the couple had originally planned to downsize, Clark added with a laugh.
“We used to have a 3,600square-foot home in Calgary, on a 60 by 120 lot, and we imagined a smaller place here on maybe an acre or two. But then this property came on the market and we fell in love with it.
“My husband’s uncles are ranchers, so he loves the country life. There’s nothing better than working in the city and then hopping on a tractor and pushing dirt around.”