There is a wooden, hand written sign outside the entrance to Paul and Rose Mailloux’s cottage on the scenic south shore of Colpoy’s Bay in Georgian Bluffs entitled, MAILLOUX WEATHER ROPE. It reads:

If the rope is…
WET…Have a beer.
MOVING…Go sailing.
HOT…Have a beer & go sailing.
COOL…Have a hot chocolate & go sailing.
STIFF…Put on a toque & go sailing.
WHITE…Have a glass of wine.
GONE!!!…Take shelter.

This family cottage is simple, yet lavish. The Maillouxes have made some custom adjustments to their Viceroy home away from home to make vacationing a little more luxurious. They chose cottage maple flooring, giving the rustic look to the great room. A Turkish rug adds culture and character to the cottage, along with many other bits and pieces they have brought from their home near Kitchener.

The weathered sign is testimony to the Maillouxes’ love of sailing as is the 25-foot vessel docked at the marina nearby. Sailing is one of the many reasons why the couple decided to build a beautiful country home on the Bruce Peninsula.

Paul’s family roots run deep in the area. His great-grandfather, John Eldridge, a bell maker from Sussex, England, settled a tract of land in the vicinity of Hepworth in the 1840s. Like all Canadian pioneers of the era, Eldridge knew how to multi-task. He built churches, surveyed land and farmed – all at the same time. Paul’s other ancestors established the very first cottage at Sauble Beach in the early 1900s, entitled “The Pines.”

Familiar with the area from his youth because of these family ties, Paul spent years looking for waterfront property. When the current parcel of land on Colpoy’s Bay became available, Mailloux jumped at the chance to make his dream come true. Having visited the Lake Como region of northern Italy, Paul was struck by how much the water off Wiarton resembled the famed Italian tourist mecca.

Once he secured the property, Paul knew he wanted to build a Viceroy home on the site. What attracted the Maillouxes was the quality of the materials that went into the Viceroy construction: two-by-six lumber, better quality insulation and superior timber.

Another critical component that pleased Paul was the option given to the homeowner to customize the initial plans without having to work through an architect. Don Rumsey, of Home & Cottage Crafters in Hepworth, an independent Viceroy dealer, agrees. “Customers like the fact that they can customize these pre-engineered, pre-cut homes to suit their own needs.”

The custom kitchen was designed and installed by the Maillouxes’ nephew with special features like this surprising and convenient spring-loaded corner drawer. The couple invites friends over to their cottage often and a crew of cooks can move about freely in this spacious kitchen.

The Maillouxes contacted Rumsey and a positive collaboration between the builder and the homeowners began. “It was a fun process,” says Paul. “Don was very accommodating. He kept us apprised every step of the way … Our home was up before last Christmas, six months after the package arrived on site … Don worked as general contractor. This is best if, like me, the owner doesn’t live nearby. Don took care of all the permits and inspections required and worked with the local trades to complete the project.”

For his part, Rumsey was pleased with the excellent work done by Chet Ashcroft, who did the excavation, foundation and landscaping, Dave Bird Electric, who handled the electrical and Shipley Mechanical, who was entrusted with the heating and air installation.

For the Maillouxes, who live in Mannheim, just outside Kitchener, Rumsey’s willingness to oversee the project was a great help.

Paul explains that the Viceroy package contains all the building materials from the insulation out. The homeowners decide on the interior fixtures. The inside of the Mailloux residence makes their northern hideaway much more than a cottage – it’s an upscale, all-season country home – a wonderful place to retire to, if they wished.

Bathrooms feature uniform style, repeating the java-stained cabinetry from the kitchen, and adding earthy slate tiles as rustic countertops.

A wide entranceway with rustic slate tiles in earthy colours leads visitors to a spacious, open-concept living/dining area lit by floor-to-ceiling windows that allow a panoramic view of Colpoy’s Bay beyond. The cottage maple flooring, (knots left in for effect) milled in Bruce County, adds rustic warmth, as does the white pine tongue-and-groove cathedral ceiling.

“We wanted more lift and height than an A-frame,” says Paul. “We wanted a comfortable place to have family gatherings and leave our busy lives behind for a while,” adds Rose.

“Don was very accommodating,” Paul continues. “If we found a deal on hardware components, he would incorporate that into the design … Also, a nephew, who works with Bamco in Guelph, designed the java-stained kitchen cabinetry with granite counters and a unique spring-loaded corner drawer.”

The kitchen’s rich, coffee-coloured pine and the entranceway’s rustic slate is picked up again in the upstairs bath with its wooden vanity, slate counter and similar slate flooring. Even the tub/shower surround sports an accent ribbon of the slate as does the footboard of the bed in the master bedroom loft. It’s these fine touches of detailing that makes the Maillouxes’ home-away-from-home a cut above.

This concern for detail extends to the kitchen where Eldorado Stone from Shouldice Designer Stone of Shallow Lake provides the facing for the kitchen’s breakfast bar as well as the mantel and surround for the zero clearance gas fireplace that anchors the great room and lends a comfortable focal point to the gathering place.

The master bedroom’s high ceilings soar above the bed, draped in a neutral, country quilt. Morning light spills through the uncovered window, slowly waking the vacationing couple from a deep sleep.

Descending from the upper back deck, constructed from locally milled cedar planks and following a winding woodchip path through dense cedars, takes the Maillouxes to their own shoreline space. The bay is revealed through a small opening in the forest, a reward for those who make the short walk to the water. Another short walk back to the home and around to the front reveals another local material used to make this home blend seamlessly with its natural surroundings. Mammoth brown rocks from Manitoulin Island buttress the upper driveway creating a varied landscape and dimension.

The Maillouxes, as well as customizing the original design to create an intimate second floor loft leading to the master bedroom with added space for visitors to stay over, created a custom outdoor canopy for the barbecue area of the deck by extending the original roofline. As a result, winter is no obstacle to the joys of outdoor cooking at this getaway.

Rumsey sums up the Maillouxes’ home construction experience to a tee. “They came with a dream, and came away with a reality.”