Grows Up. A Grand Beach Cottage. Space-saving ideas and unique features. 20 the cottager

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1 A Grand Beach Cottage Grows Up Space-saving ideas and unique features Audrey and Gerry Labelle s bigger and better cottage features a retractable awning with a wireless wind sensor that automatically closes it if it gets too breezy. 20 the cottager

2 STORY BY SHELLEY PENZIWOL Photos by Artistic Impressions At Gerry and Audrey Labelle s one-and-a-half-storey Grand Beach cottage, it s hard to resist the urge to run up and down the stairs especially in the dark. Equipped with motion-activated LED stair lighting, each interior stair light turns on in sequence as you go up or down the stairs, and the lights turn off when you exit the stairwell. A rippled domino effect, but with stair lights instead of dominoes. A safety feature in the dark, the product by Reactive Lighting also adds a bit of wow factor to the Labelle cottage. Then there s the SunSetter retractable awning with a wireless wind sensor that extends almost three metres from the cottage, shading the front deck. It s so neat, explains Gerry. If you go to the beach and it gets windy, it will close by itself. The owner of Labelle Construction and a full-time builder since retiring from the school system a decade ago, Gerry has the motivation to seek new products and the knowledge to install them. He picked up the stair lighting for just under $700 (contractor pricing) and bought the awning on sale at Costco for about $2,200 with delivery. Equally practical are the ductless air conditioners in the upstairs bedrooms that keep things cool when the temperature soars. They re ductless because there s no forced-air system in the cottage. The large panels of electrical switches in the cottage attest to Gerry s love of all things electrical, including lighting, lots of lighting, such as the pot ones spaced out every one-and-a-half or so metres in the main living room area. The Labelle cottage wasn t always so technologically sophisticated. The couple bought the Grand Beach cottage in Audrey s family had been renting a cottage in Grand Marais every summer since she was three years old, so when she and Gerry married and decided to buy their own place, there was no discussion about where we were going to be, she says with a chuckle. Situated on a lot only 33 feet wide and 75 feet deep, the Labelle cottage was initially 480 square feet, with An upper-storey addition in 2011 gave the Labelles another 400 square feet or so of living space. A friend played a joke during construction, nailing a wooden cross to the front of the roof trusses to baffle neighbours about what was being built. PHOTOS COURTESY OF GERRY LABELLE. May/june

3 an additional 140 square feet of screened-in deck. Sounds like a cosy cabin on a tiny lot, but it was the norm in Grand Beach Provincial Park, which has its roots as a bustling, close-knit railway resort. In 1914, the Canadian Northern Railway (later the Canadian National Railway) acquired land to develop a resort on the east side of Lake Winnipeg to rival the Canadian Pacific Railway s development across the lake on the west side at Winnipeg Beach. In 1916, the first train arrived at Grand Beach and Manitoba s most popular beach was launched. While many beach-goers visited for the day, the railway started leasing lots to people who wanted to pitch a tent for longer stays. Wooden platforms were built as tent floors. By the 1930s, walls and roofs were added and, before you knew it, railway camps became basic cottages. By the time Grand Beach became one of Manitoba s first four large provincial parks in 1961 (in addition These stair lights go on and off in a domino effect when you walk up and down the steps. 22 the cottager

4 to Duck Mountain, Turtle Mountain and Whiteshell), the cottage community was well-established. To this day, the cottage subdivision with more than 500 cottages remains the most intensely developed area of the park. As well, many more cottages are located outside of the park in the adjacent community of Grand Marais. Because both Audrey and Gerry were teachers (and Gerry later a counsellor and school administrator), entire summers were spent at the cottage. Audrey, Gerry, son David, daughter Chantal and often their best friends would relocate to the beach for fun, sun and relaxation. The small cottage was crammed, but it worked perfectly well for the first few decades. At least until the grandkids came along. That had Gerry turning his attention to renovating their own cottage after building many homes and cottages for others. Cottage development guidelines for Grand Beach had changed since the Labelles bought the cottage. Current guidelines allow cottages on lots 33 feet wide to be a maximum of 742 square feet on the main floor. Still compact, so Gerry set about planning the most effective way to reconfigure and add to the original building. Since current guidelines allow cottages to be one-and-a-half storeys, that was the solution. The roof has to start at the floor, Gerry points out, explaining the A-frame-like, upper-storey addition built in 2011 gave them another 400 square feet or so of useable living space. We started September 5 and by September 21, I had it shingled. We were lucky, we had only one night with a bit of rain. A big tarp covered the cottage when it wasn t being worked on. One friend even played a joke, nailing a wooden cross to the front of the roof trusses to baffle neighbours about what was being built, Gerry recalled with a laugh. Once the cottage was weather-proofed, the inside could be reconstructed, including completely new electrical and plumbing. Again, Gerry used practical and spacesaving ideas. Putting the hot water tank under the staircase and building a storage area was an efficient, space-saving idea. A door that used to be at the back of the cottage was moved to the side off the kitchen for more functional access to the deck and barbecue. May/june

5 Both upstairs bedrooms have dormers for some extra head room and windows on the gable walls. became permissible, the Labelles added a toilet in a closet in one bedroom and a small shower in a closet in the other. The renovation allowed for the addition of a full bathroom on the main floor near their master bedroom. The partially open staircase adds to the feeling of spaciousness in the main living area. And because the staircase is in the middle of the cottage, the upper landing separates the two upstairs bedrooms. Between those two bedrooms, Gerry was able to fit a small second bathroom with a toilet and sink. Each upstairs bedroom has a dormer for some extra head space and lots of windows on the gable walls. One upstairs bedroom is for the grandkids. Put the kids in one room. I don t care if they talk all night. That s part of the fun, Gerry says. All in all, he s satisfied with the end result. I had visions of a lake with a dock and a boat where I could go fishing and that would be nice, he says about his early thoughts of owning a cottage. But you know what I love about Grand Beach? It s a great place to raise the kids. To the Labelles, family is what the Grand Beach cottage is all about. And in the last three-and-a-half decades, Gerry and Audrey have seen their kids, their grandkids and their cottage grow up. C Ductless air conditioners in the upstairs bedrooms keep things cool. The hot water tank, for example, is now in a storage closet under the staircase instead of under the cottage in a crawlspace. Opening one hot water tap and one cold water tap allows him to easily drain the water lines in the fall. Limit the amount of hallway is one of his top tips for maximizing use of space. The original cottage was bisected by a narrow hallway that led to a rear door. In the new configuration, he added a side door off the kitchen, which exits to a side deck allowing direct access to an outdoor grill convenience Audrey loves when preparing meals for the family. Removal of the hallway and rear door, plus the addition of an extra two metres at the back of the cottage, meant the two main-floor bedrooms would gain some much-needed space. When the Labelles bought the cottage in 1979, wastewater holding tanks were not yet allowed so cottagers used community washrooms located throughout the cottage subdivision. When holding tanks May/june