Bringing new life to an 1850’s seaside cottage on nova scotia’s south shore
This winter we’ve been overseeing construction on an interior renovation we designed for a circa 1845 cottage on the South Shore. The 1.5 storey cottage sits on a sloping lot overlooking a picturesque cove, nestled in an enclave of other cottages that date back a century or more (the header photo depicts the view from the cottage, boathouse shown is not the cottage). I met with the new owners last Spring who were no strangers to the cove as they’d been vacationing at a neighbouring rental for many years. After assessing the existing conditions and their goals, it wasn’t long before we were in alignment with what work needed to be done.
PLACE
The 180 year old cottage was in need of a lot of TLC, its big attraction and what makes it so special is its setting. The property is situated on the shore of a fishing community, and has its own private pebble beach. The other houses on the cove were historically home to fisherman and sea captains, perched to take in the vistas of the sea and nearby wharf, though this simple cottage is more farmhouse style than sea captain. Undeniably the most important goal of the interior and exterior spaces is to capture these incredible views and maintain the historic seaside charm.
THE DESIGN CHALLENGES
The old interior presented real challenges to the new owners when envisioning their needs and lifestyle, beyond just aesthetics. Along with needing more practical and efficient storage it was showing its age - it was due time for a complete update prioritizing the kitchen, bathroom and flooring. Spacially, the 1.5 storey structure has a small footprint but what made the layout awkward was an extra large primary bedroom (at one time two rooms) occupying almost half the main floor, effectively cutting off one side of the cottage from the other. Additionally the cottage’s only bathroom opened into the kitchen, and access to the bathroom from the bedroom was through the living room and kitchen. All a bit awkward when you have house guests.
Along with updating the interior finishes and all new kitchen and bathroom, the client’s also wanted a separate laundry space (out of the kitchen) and better storage for coats and boots. (Not shown on these plans, the second level would be dedicated to 3 guest bedrooms as well as and open area with desk in the dormer window overlooking the sea.)
When I assessed the main floor layout it was clear that in order for the cottage to work significantly better for them (and their visiting family ) we needed to begin with reimagining the floor plan layout. Here’s a look at the before and the after plan and a few ‘before’ photos of the interior.
THE DESIGN SOLUTION - FLOOR PLAN RE-DESIGN
Our new floor plan design resolved all the spacial issues and ticked everything on the wish list. The key change was reducing the bedroom size and eliminating the basement staircase - with an existing full height walk-out into the unfinished basement on the exterior the interior stairs were redundant. With this space gained, we added a mudroom, laundry closet, and created a hallway which provides access to all the rooms, including the relocated bathroom door and new secondary bedroom door.
Adding the hallway opened up the cottage from side to side, making the flow and sight lines more expansive as well bringing in more natural light. What truly transformed the hallway from super functional to ultimate was the opportunity to convert the former bedroom window, perfectly positioned (seen in the before photos), into a door (3/4 glass).
For orientation, the views around the entire cottage are enchanting but the main consideration is the vast ocean views are on the front facing side of the house (the porch side). The main driveway access is at the back with parking located in the top right corner on these plans. Previously when arriving by car the main entry was through the kitchen door, and the front entry was used when arriving on foot or by visitors. Now the main entry is into the mudroom adjacent to the parking, and the secondary kitchen door provides a walk-out to the deck with bistro table and bbq. Both doors in the same style with 3/4 glass divided lites.
As seen in the After Plan, this layout change improved the cottage in many ways:
addition of mudroom room and side door access to car parking
addition of laundry closet
access to bathroom off the hallway
new door into bedroom from hallway directly opposite the bathroom
improved flow, sight lines and natural light
opened up the kitchen to the ocean views living room
more counter an storage space in kitchen and bathroom
INTERIOR STYLE & MATERIALS
While working on the floor plan we were also refining the vision for the new interior space. We assessed the owners inspiration images and shared a few of our own so we could hone in on the consistencies and preferences first and then focus on the most suitable direction for the interior materials and fixtures.
Inspriration images via Pinterest and Instagram
Having fallen in love with the historic charm of the area and the rental they had enjoyed vacationing in the past 10 years, the owners knew they wanted to modernize the cottage’s function while restoring and maintaining its nostalgic character blended with a contemporary approach.
Our vision for the interior was to expose the original hand hewn timber ceiling beams, a few of which were already exposed, install new antique wood floor boards, lime wash the brick fireplace and add builtin painted cabinetry in a plaiin shaker style.
The new palette features natural wood and warm white with contrasting trim and cabinetry in sand, stone and sea tones, with shiplap panelling and aged metals in brass and bronze. Reusing salvaged doors and hardware where possible and choosing new fixtures with timeless and vintage qualities.
By Thanksgiving we’d wrapped up the design planning and construction got underway in November. With the owners living out of province we undertook this project as a hybrid combination of our virtual design process plus the addition of initial meetings and site visits throughout construction.
Progress Photo: View standing in front of where the fridge/pantry will be, down the new hall into new mudroom with side door.
The original wood beams previously covered up with a dropped tile ceiling are in beautiful condition and the contractor has meticulously installed drywall between each one. In a couple of areas where a new beam or partial piece of a beam was needed for consistency the contractor had a ship builder in Lunenburg hand craft some beams which we’ll finish to match the old. .
This spring we’re continuing to supervise progress on site and looking forward to watching it evolve as we’re now entering the finish stages.
