Winter 2023

 

Get Your Copy

  • Collingwood Kitchen & Bath Design Centre

Transforming a log cabin in the woods while maintaining the original structure and feel

by Janet Lees, photography by Derek Trask

Part of the original log cabin is visible on the far right end of the remodeled home, and designer/builder Jacqueline Van Strien used veneers from some of the logs removed inside for the log section in the centre of the new limestone façade. To the left of the front door is the addition built to house the master suite, and to the right is the new section where the dining room now resides.

When Susan and Stuart Ash were ready to turn their weekend retreat into a full-time residence, they went driving around The Blue Mountains to gather ideas. It was on one of those drives where kismet intervened. They fell in love with designer-builder Jacqueline Van Strien’s house, drove in her driveway, and met the perfect person to turn their 175-year-old “basic log cabin” into a stunning stone and log home with plenty of room for living and entertaining, while maintaining the history – and memories – of their beloved cabin in the woods.

Walls in the log cabin were removed to create the new kitchen, which still has the original pine flooring. The redesign has a slightly nautical feel, a nod to the Ashes’ love of sailing.
Walls in the log cabin were removed to create the new kitchen, which still has the original pine flooring. The redesign has a slightly nautical feel, a nod to the Ashes’ love of sailing.
The dining room is in the newer section added to the front of the home, but is open to the kitchen and creates a seamless flow between old and new.

The cabin actually started out as two cabins, which the previous owners brought from the Ottawa Valley and joined together on this two-acre property perched on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment off Camperdown Road, surrounded by trees and very private, with an incredible view of Georgian Bay stretching from Christian Island to the Meaford Tank Range.

The Ashes purchased the home in 1998 and used it as a weekend ski chalet, creating lots of family memories over the years even though the cabin lacked conveniences like town water or sewer, cable TV or internet. Retirement approached just as The Blue Mountains was growing into a four-season destination and the Georgian Bay Club opened nearby. The resulting development along Camperdown brought more services to the area, and the Ashes knew they could take advantage of these improvements while still enjoying the privacy of their exclusive oasis in the trees.

“As the area evolved, the house has evolved with it, and we’ve been able to evolve with the house,” says Stuart, who had an illustrious career as an award-winning graphic designer (among many accomplishments, he designed the iconic ‘Centennial leaf’ logo made up of multicoloured triangles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation in 1967). As he prepared to sell his Toronto company, Gottschalk + Ash, he and Susan, herself a former interior designer, set out to transform their rustic hideaway into a home that would take them through the next phase of their journey.

After hiring Van Strien in 2006, they laid out their must-haves. They wanted to reorient the home to capitalize on the view; establish a great room looking out on the Bay, with a majestic two-storey cathedral ceiling; create an open concept between the expanded kitchen, dining room, living room and billiard room; and relocate the master bedroom to the main floor with a fabulous ensuite bathroom, walk-in closet and laundry facilities. All while maintaining the footprint of the original cabin, preserving as much of the log structure and “cabin feel” as possible, and meeting the strict regulations of the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC).

“The brilliance of Jacqueline Van Strien was to reconfigure the space accommodating all of these objectives,” says Stuart. “This was achieved within the buildable footprint considering all the zoning and regulatory requirements of the Grey Bruce Escarpment.” 

In spite of more than doubling the square footage, the innovative upgrade preserved the original cabins in-situ – with just the merest alterations to incorporate the additions and achieve the Ashes’ wish list.

In the master suite addition, the bedroom features a vaulted ceiling and views out to the trees and gardens.
In the master bathroom, Van Strien used plenty of white marble, including the mosaic tile on the floor, the rectangular tiles on the custom skirting around the undermounted tub, and the Spanish wall tile in the wainscoting.
In the master bathroom, Van Strien used plenty of white marble, including the mosaic tile on the floor, the rectangular tiles on the custom skirting around the undermounted tub, and the Spanish wall tile in the wainscoting.

The existing cabins had a combined footprint of about 1,700 square feet, which the renovation expanded to just over 3,800 square feet above grade. But in spite of more than doubling the square footage, the innovative upgrade preserved the original cabins in-situ – with just the merest alterations to incorporate the additions and achieve the Ashes’ wish list.

The other challenge was combining the couple’s contrasting tastes into one cohesive home. “Stuart’s a modernist and Susan, on the other hand, loves old things. She grew up partly in Vermont and partly in Quebec so she loves old log cabins,” says Van Strien. “The first time I met with them, she said it would really pain her heart to knock it down because of all the history and all of their past that the family spent there. Stuart mentioned just in passing that he likes the tension between old and new, and that is something that intrigues me. So I sat down that evening and drew up the plans.”

She went back the next day to show the couple her vision, which involved preserving the original log cabin and building around it, completely modernizing it with a huge new kitchen, a new ground floor master suite, enlarging the living room with a view out to the Bay, and those cathedral ceilings the couple longed for.

Van Strien’s plan was a hit with the Ashes, and then it was a matter of making it work structurally and adhering to the confines of the NEC’s regulations. Van Strien hired a geotechnical engineer to navigate the NEC regs, and a structural engineer to ensure that removing portions of walls as well as part of the ceiling in the original log cabin wouldn’t compromise structural integrity or load bearing.

The living room is in the original log cabin section of the home. Part of a wall was removed to create the rectangular bay window with views out to the Escarpment and Georgian Bay, and a section of the original second floor was removed to give the room a cathedral ceiling, with reclaimed beams added for structural load bearing. The fireplace was recreated using stones from the cabin’s original fireplace.
The Ashes’ dog, Suki, stakes out a warm spot in front of the fireplace in a log corner of the kitchen. The fireplace is a gas model that looks like a wood-burner and radiates heat.
The painting in the dining room, by Quebec artist Ulysse Comtois, reflects Stuart’s contemporary taste.
The living room is in the original log cabin section of the home. Part of a wall was removed to create the rectangular bay window with views out to the Escarpment and Georgian Bay, and a section of the original second floor was removed to give the room a cathedral ceiling, with reclaimed beams added for structural load bearing. The fireplace was recreated using stones from the cabin’s original fireplace.

“The property was really constrained by steep slopes, so the geotechnical engineer looked at diverting storm water along the property and also making sure that the slopes would remain stable after we built on the property,” recalls Van Strien. “The footprint had to follow the terrain to a certain degree, and the new garage had to be at a higher elevation with all kinds of drainage in the transition area between the two levels, so the ground remains stable and water moves efficiently and safely.”

Entering the somewhat hidden driveway, the detached double-car garage has a coach house feel. The new stone and log façade of the house stretches out below, nestled in the trees with natural gardens Susan put in herself and a promontory at one end looking out over the edge of the Escarpment. The impact is breathtaking but not at all fussy; the house has a sense of belonging to the landscape.

Walking in the front door, one of the first things a visitor sees is the corner of two exterior walls of the original log cabin. These walls have been maintained throughout, so in practically every room you have a view of a log wall. The wall at the Escarpment end has been opened into a rectangular bay window that takes full advantage of the view.

A portion of the original second floor has been removed to create the sought-after vaulted ceiling in the living room, and the Ashes are especially fond of the floor-to-ceiling fireplace, which was recreated using the stone from the cabin’s original fireplace, once situated in the kitchen.
The fireplace stone isn’t the only thing that has been reused; the log section on the exterior of the house uses veneers from the beams that were removed during the renovation.

This attention to detail and preservation give the house a sense of history and a flow that makes it hard to tell where the old house ends and the new sections begin. That’s exactly what Susan was hoping to achieve, and she couldn’t be happier.

“Log cabins talk to you,” she muses as she looks around fondly, taking in the view indoors as well as outdoors. “You feel a calmness. It’s so natural and timeless, and being in the trees it really feels like you’re in the forest. Then, when the leaves go off the trees, we can see all the way over to Meaford one way and Christian Island the other way. It’s a completely different view in the winter.” ❧

Walking in the front door, the first thing a visitor sees is this corner of what was originally the exterior of the log cabin.

A portion of the original second floor has been removed to create the sought-after vaulted ceiling in the living room, and the Ashes are especially fond of the floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

The detached coach house-style garage, at left, was built after the house renovation and is situated slightly higher due to drainage considerations and Niagara Escarpment Commission regulations.
Homeowners Susan and Stuart Ash sit on the promontory that looks out over the Escarpment to the Bay.
Photos taken during construction show the footprint of the original log cabin (actually two cabins joined together) and the additions Van Strien built around it.
Photos taken during construction show the footprint of the original log cabin (actually two cabins joined together) and the additions Van Strien built around it.

Source Guide

General Contractor – Van Strien Developments Inc., Thornbury
Design Concepts for Renovation & Detached Garage
– Jacqueline Van Strien, Thornbury
Structural Engineering
– Dan Barill, PEng., Barill Engineering Ltd., Collingwood
Geotechnical Engineering
– Andy Hims, PEng, Jagger Hims Limited (now Genivar Inc.).
Andy Hims now with Hims GeoEnvironmental Ltd., Collingwood
Windows – Loewen

Kitchen Counter – Bianco Romano granite
Kitchen Cabinets, Range Hood & Custom Vanities
– Greg Andrews, Clearview Woodworking, Stayner
Countertops (kitchen and bathrooms) – Solid Stone, Vaughan
Plumbing Fixtures – Taps, Toronto
Living Room Light Fixture & Exterior Copper Lanterns
– Walter Haidle, Lightcrafters Custom Lighting
Fireplace Masonry – Campbell Construction Inc., Thornbury
Landscaping and Stonework – Janalco Limited, Thornbury
Spanish Tile in Master Ensuite – Tilemaster, Barrie