Many years ago, my partner Glenn and I built this lovely cottage nestled along the shore of lake Kawagama
We were contracted to build the entire cottage for the clients, including all the squared log work, framing, and trim, along with building the traditional style kitchen cabinetry and all the heritage masonry.
We also did all the hardscaping: steps and small dry laid retaining walls to make getting down to the lake easier and safer for a young family.
What I was mostly interested in seeing after all this time was the old stonework including the steps and retaining walls that I had built there well before I got into dry stone walling full time. Back then — and well before that — I was mostly building with the Devil’s cream creating traditional Rumford fireplaces, squared stone foundations and stone chimneys, often in an authentic random rubble style which is what you can see here at the cottage.
It was gratifying to see how well it all stands up (both wet and dry work) even though it is now so long ago that I barely remember having done any of it.
