When you have a dream, anything is possible. Just ask Jerry Maisner, who worked at Kellogg’s for 32 years before going back to school and becoming a Muskoka builder.

He already has numerous renovations, additions, and a spectacular new cottage project under his belt, after just seven years in his second career, with MD Homes.

The Muskoka Lake project, in Gravenhurst, Ontario, is an approximately 6,000-square-foot cottage built in a Modernized Olde Muskoka style. “The main contrast from true Olde Muskoka is in materials and open-concept layout,” says Maisner. “We’ve used windows and doors with transoms, engineered hickory flooring, tumbled marble tile and beadboard wainscoting with detailed trim work.”

Maisner searched for five years to find the perfect property – a 2.4-acre lot with 208 feet of water frontage. “It had to be west or south facing, or somewhere in between, and have pine trees and rock outcroppings – the real Muskoka features,” he says.

Landscape considerations

The house was designed to fit the contours of the land and make the most of its water views – with the main floor elevated 30 feet to provide a spectacular view of the lake.

“It was a fairly detailed process to get everything right,” says Maisner. “With an oval-sweeping water frontage, we could have positioned it in many different ways. A 30-degree angle change makes a lot of difference.”

The granite on the property was another big consideration. “We didn’t want to blast it out. We found a reasonably flat section and where the rock curves up in one area, it is incorporated into the lower level,” he says.

Maisner’s wife Linda played a major role in interior decorating and the selection of lighting, plumbing, bathroom and kitchen features. Todd Fulton and Joel Howard helped create an interior design with broad appeal.

“There are lots of 45 degree angles. The second floor does not have a flat section of roof. Ceilings are tongue-and-groove pine, with some natural and some painted white,” Maisner says.

Interior features

Three bedrooms are on the second floor, including one self-contained master suite with an en suite bathroom. There is another master suite, with an octagonal-shaped reading room and an en suite bathroom, on the main floor.

The main-floor master suite provides many options, with a reading room that could be used as a home office or a baby’s room, or even for grandparents who have problems with stairs.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom cottage also has a sun room with south-facing windows, 10-foot ceilings and eight-foot-high windows on the main floor. A 21-foot-wide screened Muskoka room and a floor-to-ceiling granite fireplace are other defining features. The walk-up lower level offers an additional 1,500 square feet of living space.

Maisner says his first big project has taught him the importance of doing your homework when selecting tradespeople. “Remember, you’re only as successful as the people you work with,” he says.

It took him just over a year to complete this, his first major project, but with lessons learned and a dream to follow, he is already on the look-out for the next.

Read the full article in Issue 3 of Canadian Homes & Cottages Magazine.