A Muskoka Lake House with Tasteful Tailoring
Ashley Botten Design fashions an interior inspired by finely tailored suits
There are plenty of cottages in Muskoka—the infamous northern getaway for wistful city-dwellers. However, while this project by Toronto’s Ashley Botten Design shares the same postcode as those classic retreats, it is unmistakably distinct. More than just a cottage, it’s a true home-away-from-home, with with an elegant palette of materials that invokes a highly elevated design scheme.
“This is a lake house. It’s not a cottage. So, it is intentionally different. There’s a slight eased edge of elegance to it,” says Botten.
The first consideration of the project: scale. “The space is big,” says founder Ashley Botten. And no kidding, the house breaks 9,000 square feet. In a space like that, you need some anchors to orient the interiors. Case in point: the flagstone hearth in the living room and entryway. A popular ingredient of Muskoka dwellings, Botten knew right away that this element would stay the same, albeit with some minor alterations (a custom blackened metal insert and folded metal over the remaining wood beam).
“Because the fireplace takes up so much space, you want to draw your eye to something else. And sometimes that thing doesn’t have to be present in the same way, but you experience it, and it becomes something that you can connect to.”
Perhaps an unlikely source, high-fashion menswear is another thread that connects the design of the lake house—specifically, the art of tailoring a high-style suit. Neatly pressed and perfectly fitted, Botten seamlessly integrates these qualities into the interior. From the smooth, streamlined wooden wall storage in the breezeway—or should we say runway?—to the tightly tailored bedspreads literally made of suiting wool, every detail reflects this inspiration.
“It’s very fine, but it has strength to it. We were able to really tightly upholster and do some really clean and straight stitching with this choice of fabric.”
Treating the Muskoka lake house much like a suit in itself, quality materials were at the forefront. Back in the breezeway, larch-wood in a rip cut lines the walls—leaving behind the old, yellowing wood for something more tailored and timeless.
“When you get all these grains running, it’s a lot like making a pattern. Then making the suit around the pattern. How do I go about connecting the seams, connecting the joints well and making it very seamless and tailored and tight?”
But for all its elegant interventions and subtle moments, there is undoubtedly an element of raw natural materials as well—from the giant flagstone hearth to the slab of exposed stone that functions as a sink. And looking out the window, you are never too far from the Muskoka bedrock.
In the living room of the Muskoka lake house, a custom carpet with raised forms inspired by the lichen that grows on the rock outside (and doubles as a blueprint for the furniture legs) bridges inside and out with a skillful touch.
“It’s like walking on a rock where you can walk on the moss or on the lichen or on the rock itself. And, you know, obviously it’s soft, and it’s very subtle in its texture but visually, it gives some dimension.”
