A Life by the Lake: How Renovating Our Family Cottage Became a Journey of Restoration
Editor’s Note: This story is part of Beyond the Spa, our editorial series exploring performance, recovery, and wellness-focused travel beyond traditional spa experiences. In this piece, David Ciccarelli, founder of Lake.com, shares how renovating his family’s lakefront cottage in Muskoka became a deeply personal journey toward restoration, balance, and presence, proving that the most luxurious spaces are often the quietest.
I grew up with water in my blood. My childhood unfolded on the rugged shores of Lake Superior, where the vast horizon taught me humility and awe in equal measure.
My wife, Stephanie, was raised along the gentler waves of Lake Erie, another of Canada’s Great Lakes. For both of us, the lakes were more than scenery, they were constant companions, grounding forces that shaped how we saw the world.
It was only natural that when we started our own family, we wanted our children to carry the same values: respect for the natural world, joy in simple pleasures, and the restorative rhythm of life by the water.
Finding Our Haven
Like many, the pandemic forced us to pause. Our work in digital technology already gave us flexibility, but suddenly, the whole world was working from home.
Our four children were doing school online, and we, like so many other families, found ourselves reflecting on what mattered most. We got a puppy. We set new goals. And one goal rose to the top: owning a family cottage.
We wanted a place that could hold generations of memories, a gathering spot for reunions, milestones, and lazy summer afternoons.
In the midwinter of 2021, after months of searching, we found it: a 7,200-square-foot lakehouse perched on the rocky shoreline of Lake Muskoka, a two-hour drive north of Toronto. It was vast, storied, and beautiful, but tired.
Reimagining the Space
To bring our vision to life, we turned to a designer we had admired from her work on Home and Garden Television. On her first visit, she took one look around and exclaimed, “Wow! Yes, we have to do it.” That enthusiasm was all the encouragement we needed.
Her philosophy aligned with ours: the goal was not to erase the past but to preserve its essence while breathing in new life. The cottage had what she called “great bones,” but its orange-stained wood, dark carpeting, and closed-off rooms dulled the spirit of the place.
Together, we reimagined it. White walls and ceilings opened the space, while black-framed windows framed every possible view of the lake. We knocked down a single wall, turning what was once a cramped kitchen into a library and sitting room anchored by a two-sided fireplace. Every choice balanced authenticity with renewal.
The Result: Calm, Connection, and Celebration
When we finally welcomed our extended family for reunions and friends for long weekends, the feedback was immediate: “It feels calming. Peaceful. Restorative.”
Perhaps it’s the soft sconces that cast a golden glow in the evenings. Perhaps it’s the way the light filters across the water into every room. Or perhaps it’s simply that the natural beauty of Muskoka, untouched and enduring, is amplified by design choices that honor rather than compete with it.
The magic lies in the balance. Original stone floors carry the patina of time, while new textures and colors feel modern and light. Century-old door handles still open onto spaces that now feel fresh and timeless. It is as if the house itself has exhaled, finally aligned with the tranquility of its surroundings.
Lessons in Wellness Design
Through this renovation, I learned that restorative design is not about perfection, it’s about harmony. By allowing the architecture to echo the landscape, you create an environment that naturally lowers the shoulders and deepens the breath.
In our cottage, wellness isn’t found in flashy amenities but in quiet details: a screened-in porch where you can sip coffee while listening to loons call across the bay, a west-facing dock designed for sunset cocktails, or the sauna and indoor hot tub tucked away in the master wing, offering warmth after a brisk swim.
The most luxurious feature is, in truth, the simplest: the ability to connect with nature without distraction.
Why We Started Lake.com
Three summers and countless special weekends later, our cottage has become a place of joy, healing, and connection. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder, how could we help others experience this same magic?
That question became the spark for Lake.com, a platform devoted to lakefront vacation rentals. Our mission is simple: to give more people access to these transformative experiences. Because life really is better at the lake.
When you hear the gentle lap of water on the shore, see the morning mist rising over the bay, or gather with loved ones around a crackling firepit, you realize wellness doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as elemental as water, stone, and time together.
The Timeless Allure of Muskoka
Our cottage, designed by Toronto architect Jerome Markson, sits on 1.25 acres of Precambrian rock. It includes a six-bedroom main house, a historic two-bedroom boathouse, the first ever built on Lake Muskoka, and two expansive docks, one east-facing for mornings, the other west-facing for sunsets.
It is a place steeped in history yet alive with possibility, a reminder that the best luxury is not excess, but presence.
Closing Reflections
Renovating our cottage was not only about walls, windows, and décor. It was about creating a sanctuary where wellness could be lived, not prescribed.
My hope is that anyone who visits feels what we felt when we first set foot here: a sense of calm, connection, and celebration of life by the water.
Because in the end, wellness is not found in a spa brochure or a design catalog, it’s found in the stillness of a lake at dusk, when the only sound is the gentle ripple of water, and the only light is the glow of the setting sun.
- About the Author
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David is an entrepreneur at heart. David is the Founder and CEO of Lake, an online vacation rental platform for properties on or near the water, and a 20-year entrepreneur. David is a graduate of Harvard Business School and has written about his experiences in Travel + Leisure, Daily Mail, Entrepreneur, and The Wall Street Journal.
