An Estate in the Forest
A documentation of a place I found hidden in a forest on the eastern edge of the Canadian Shield. The old cabin, in its decrepitude, captivated my
spirit with its abandoned splendor. I knew these forests from having grown up around there as a child, reveling with
the frogs and snakes in the ponds among the rocks and trees.
That was the 1970s in rural Lanark County, Ontario. In that time, and now twenty‑five years into the 2000s, I had only a vague and romantic concept of the house. The raccoons had eviscerated the insulation, and a host of other small mammals had made the place uninhabitable. After a discussion with a lifelong friend, he assured me the old shack could rise from the grave.
The idea was to resurrect the old building and create a place that lives with the environment rather than resisting it. Using the raw materials left behind—the boards, beams, and porcupine‑eaten old steps, for example, which were planed down and used as cabinet doors. I think the word is aesthetics.
Onto the website.
The Estate
The Renovation
What was once a home and the labour of love to restore the old cabin to be a part of the environment from where it came in rural Lanark County.
A page of detailed construction.
The Sauna
The notes and construction of a sauna I had designed and constructed as a part of the environment. This project is as close as possible to a Finnish sauna. These are the notes and plans.
Flora and fauna
I’m just beginning to compile the page
Time Laps Video Page
Samples Below
