RENOVATION I FEATURE
Careful refurbishing energizes family cottage’s rustic charm
Makeover gets family cottage ready for new generation.
A LOG COTTAGE NESTLED among tall white birch trees holds the majority of Mary Kings’ memories. Now it is building memories for a new generation.
For Kings, it’s where she met her best friend, celebrated Thanksgiving every year and spent her honeymoon with her husband.
“That cottage was a constant in my life,” says Kings, who lives in Kitchener. Built in 1931 entirely out of black swamp spruce logs, the cottage is located along Barrow Bay, just off Georgian Bay near Lion’s Head. The 1,650-sq.-ft. cottage sits on five acres of tree-covered property. It is less than 100 metres from the water and backs on >>
>> to the Niagara Escarpment. Kings’ parents bought it in 1951 when she was three years old and from that point on she and her older brother, Tom, spent every summer of their childhood at the family getaway. “It’s where I grew up,” says Mary. Her father affectionately named the log cabin “Tomalog” – a combination of Mary and her brother’s names and the word “log.” He even made a wooden sign in the shape of a totem pole and carved “Tomalog” into it. The sign still hangs on the front of the cottage.
In the summer, Kings — whose birth name was McMillen — would spend her days waterskiing, riding horses at the nearby stable and playing Scrabble and other board games. During the evenings, the neighbours would take turns hosting theme parties. Kings’ parents were known for their annual feast of pigtails, cabbage rolls and a keg of beer.
“There was always something fun going on at Tomalog,” she says.
But for her, the truly special moments were the annual Thanksgiving dinners at the cottage. Her mother would make a turkey dinner for the family and she would invite any other relatives or friends who didn’t have a place to go for the holiday.
“Mom never wanted anyone to be alone on Thanksgiving so our holiday table was usually pretty full,” says Kings. “The one thing I remember most was my mom hanging a spoon on her nose at dinner. It became a competition every year to see who could do it the longest.”
After dinner, her father would make a huge fire in the fireplace and the family would play cribbage.
“Our Thanksgiving dinners at the cottage were always memorable and centred around family,” she says.
Once Kings had three children of her own, she and her husband, Marty, built a cottage just down the road so she could continue to spend time at her childhood vacation spot. Her brother Tom McMillen, did the same.
“My parents were just two minutes away so we were always wandering over there,” she says.>>
>> Even after Kings’ three boys were grown and her mother had died, she continued to go up to Tomalog to spend time with her father there. “I just kept feeling this pull to go back.” But once her father died in 2003, things changed. The family cottage that had always been her second home was now empty. Kings and her brother initially put the property up for sale, but with so much of the family’s history tied to the log cabin they eventually took it off the market.
“After my father died, I had this beautiful structure and I didn’t know what to do with it,” Kings says. “I knew if I sold it that I would have to drive past it every time we went up to our cottage and deal with the reality that it was no longer ours.”
In the end, she took over ownership of the cottage and decided to do some extensive renovations so that her three children and their young families could spend time there.
Over the 50-odd years Kings’ parents owned the loft-style four-bedroom cottage, the only change they had made was building an addition in 1969 so they could have a dining room with a master bedroom above it.
“There was still the same Berber carpet that was installed in the 1970s,” Kings says.
Not only did the carpet need to be pulled up, but also the tiny kitchen needed to be expanded, the bathrooms needed to be updated and they needed a laundry room.
The task seemed too daunting for Kings so she asked Marty and their three sons
— Sean Kings (Milton), P.J. Kings (Colling– wood) and Ryan Kings (Kitchener) — to take charge of renovations. Marty had done home renovations in the past, but he knew he would have to treat this project with special care. “We wanted to be respectful of her parents,” says Marty. “We also wanted to keep the tradition and the idea of the log cabin only modernize it. We have a lot of memories there, and it’s where Mary grew up so we didn’t want to change it too much.” When they pulled up the carpets, they found original maple floors throughout the main floor so they sanded and refinished them to look brand new. The original floors were also hiding under the carpeting in the upstairs bedrooms so they refinished them as well. A partial wall was knocked out in the old kitchen to create a laundry room with an adjoining mudroom and children’s play area.
“This opened up the cottage to create more light in the main living area,” Mary says.
The kitchen was moved into the larger dining room area where new kitchen cabinets and a new countertop were installed. They also brought in new appliances and a new kitchen table. In the upstairs addition, a doorway was created so the master bedroom could be accessed through the upstairs loft area of the original building.
“This opening from one section to the other had not existed originally in the upper bedroom level,” Kings says. “Having that allowed for easier access to all of the bedrooms on one floor and also made it safer.”
Marty built wooden barn-style sliding doors for the entrances to all three bedrooms. He also put in new bedroom furniture.
“I drove up one day without Mary and cleared out all the furniture,” he says. “I knew it was going to be hard for her to see everything leaving so we wanted to do it when she wasn’t there.”
While Marty and his boys did most of the work, they hired people for some projects, such as building an elaborate enclosed stone deck with a large built-in fireplace at the front of the cottage facing the water.
From start to finish, the renovations took a year and a half and Mary admits it was an emotional transition.
“It was hard for me to see the place change that quickly because it had been the same since I was three years old. But now that it’s done, I am really pleased. It still looks somewhat like it used to but with a fresh look.”
Despite the extensive renovations, the >>
>> cabin has retained its rustic charm with the main features of the interior still being the dark log walls and the matching log railings along the staircase and the upstairs loft as well as the large stone fireplace. Mary and Marty also made sure to incorporate as much of the original décor as possible.
“We even kept the mounted deer head,” says Mary.
A light fixture her parents had shipped in from Barbados where they spotted it during vacation still hangs above the kitchen table. The wooden kitchen chairs are there too. Her mother’s china cabinet filled with her dishes still has its spot on the main floor and a unique ornate wardrobe that came with the cottage when her parents bought it has a home at the top of the stairs.
They kept the two antique Tiffany-style lights that have been hanging from the beams of the 25-foot ceiling for as long as Kings can remember. They also have a painting of Georgian Bay’s rocky shoreline hanging in the living room. This painting came with the log cabin and was created by an artist who used to own a nearby cottage.
After a two-year hiatus from Tomalog, Kings and her family returned to their vacation spot last July. Her children stayed at the newly renovated cottage, and she and Marty stayed at their cottage down the road. Her brother, Tom McMillen, passed away three years ago, but his wife Donna still comes to their cottage nearby.
“It’s great because we have our own space and still get to see our grandchildren whenever we want,” says Mary.
The family also renewed the tradition of having Thanksgiving at Tomalog. Just like her mother, Mary made a turkey dinner for her children and their families. They hung spoons on their noses and after dinner made a fire in the fireplace and roasted marshmallows.
Although the family is reviving old traditions, Kings knows her children and grandchildren will have their own unforgettable experiences at “Tomalog” the same way she did.
“It’s their place now where they can make their own memories as a families.”