Our Projects

In the winter of 2001, vandals burned down my 100-year-old cottage on Lac Bonin in Val-des-Monts. I was devastated because I loved that old cottage so much; it had such charm and character. I knew that eventually I would build another cottage, but I did not want some “new” modern one, so I decided to look for an old log house. As luck would have it, shortly afterwards there was an ad in the paper for a “150-year-old log house for sale” in Shawville. I contacted the sellers, and they said that the building had to be taken down and removed from the site in three days! I really felt that I needed someone who knew about log homes to come and take a look at the house with me, as I knew nothing about log buildings. A friend put me in touch with a log home builder, David Lyman, and I contacted him to see if he could come with me. From the outset, he was so accommodating and agreed to meet me the next night at the site.

I went with a friend and got to the house before Dave. My heart sank when I saw it. It was not a pretty sight. The outside was covered in aluminum siding and the inside was all plastered. It was dark and crooked and to top it all off, there was not a log to be seen! I was ready to say “forget it” when Dave arrived. He took a look at it, didn’t say a word, went around the house, poking here and there and after about 10 minutes came back and said, “I think that it is a good house — I don’t see any signs of moisture and it is on a foundation. If I were you, I’d buy it, and if you don’t, I will!” I looked at my friend and said, “What should I do?” And he said, “Buy it!” So, putting complete trust in someone I hardly knew (Dave), I did! It was one of the best decisions of my life.

In fact, there was no actual price for the house: the “deal” was that I was to have it disassembled and the site cleaned up. I hired Dave and two days later he did just that. In one day, he took down the house, cleaned up the site, and removed the logs to his property where they lay for two years until I was ready to build. (I was still mourning the loss of my cottage.)

I became inspired when I found some nice old windows in the Laurentians and a friend drew a sketch of a two-storey cottage that I liked. I showed the drawing to Dave and the project took off. He drew up plans, had them approved, and started building. Dave was a pleasure to work with: dependable, intelligent (in fact, I would say brilliant), reflective, and resourceful. A man of unquestionable integrity, it was obvious that he loved his work and took pride in creating a structure that was aesthetically beautiful and structurally sound. The logs turned out to be absolutely stunning — all hand-hewn oak and ash — and the windows went perfectly with the feel of the place, filling the downstairs with light and looking out over the mountains and woods.

Dave was able to do most of the work himself (except for installing the tin roof), including wiring the house for future consideration (I did not want electricity but he convinced me to install it during construction because it would not be very expensive then, whereas it would be very costly if I decided to put it in later — so far I have resisted hooking it up, but I am happy that I have the option, as you never know).

In four months, the cottage was built and I was thrilled and remain so to this day. In fact, I feel disloyal to my first cottage when I say that I love my “new” one even more than it — all thanks to Dave Lyman.