Vol.8.1 Clear Lake Cabin For Sale, Fairy Dust Included

Wendy Peters, Real Estate Broker
Aug 9, 2024
4 min read

Updated: May 18

Want to sprinkle a little fairy dust on your summers? Spend them up at Clear Lake. There is something about the energy there that is magical in its properties - it lightens human hearts, rejuvenates sagging spirits and creates a little space for the breeze of possibility to blow through. It's the kind of place where you can let the kids go free-range with peace of mind and grownups can unwind and reconnect.

There is a community of cabins - tiny homes, really - nestled amongst the towering pines on the southern shore of Clear Lake that the summer residents call the "old campground" or the "OC" for short. Summers are golden for the families who are lucky enough to spend them here. For decades, my family has been one of those and it is now time to pass the torch - bittersweet.

17-First Street S was a small 2-bedroom bungalow cabin when my parents purchased it in 1997. There were no waterworks in the cabins then so there was a nightime communal brushing of teeth with one's neighbors in the community washrooms and it was common to see people walking down the street in their robes on the way to the shower house, towels slung over their shoulders.

Having undergone an extensive renovation and expansion between the years 2013 and 2015, 17-1st Street S is now a 768 square foot, 1 1/2 storey cabin with 3 bedrooms, a modern open layout, 3-piece bathroom (shower) with laundry facilities backing onto a peaceful slice of boreal forest.

Back in our family's golden era, we also owned the smaller cabin immediately to the north of ours, so the shared patio space between them made a lot of sense. It still does, actually, as the current owner of that cabin owns a cottage on the east side of the townsite and only uses this one on the rare occasion she has more guests than her main cottage can handle. Does this fire up your imagination and get you mulling over the possibilities? Maybe just maybe there are side-by-side cabins in your family's future;)

Here are a few photos to whet your whistle:

17-1st Street S., Wasagaming, Riding Mountain National Park MLS#202419809

Asking $359,900 fully furnished w/6 Appliances and Canada Day Swag included

Detailed Property Description:

Get to Know 17-1st Street South, Wasagaming, Riding Mountain National Park

This lot is located mid-block on the westernmost street in the old campground, with nothing behind the cabins but the Boreal forest and a walking path down to the parking lot and the town site that used to be one of the main entrances to the old campground development.

Frank and Sharon Peters purchased the original cabin in 1997. At that time it was a 16’ x 24’ 2-bedroom bungalow backing onto a private slice of Boreal forest with a footpath behind (the old campground road) leading down to the overflow parking lot and the Interpretative Centre.

A major renovation of the original cabin was undertaken over the summers of 2013, ‘14 and ’15 as follows, with all of the appropriate permits and inspections required by municipal and federal authorities:

The interior was gutted to the studs and rebuilt with all new drywall, electrical, plumbing, flooring (laminate), windows (dual pane low E), kitchen cabinetry (IKEA);
The existing finishes were removed, the exterior envelope wrapped in Tyvek and new vinyl siding installed, improving the energy efficiency of the structure;
new concrete pads were poured, new support beams installed and the main floor of the cabin was extended by 8’ for a new main floor footprint of 16’ x 32’.
Neil Fleming, a local contractor, was hired to add a second storey; and
a stone patio was professionally installed.

The cabin as it is now, comes fully furnished and features:

3 bedrooms – the primary bedroom is located on the main floor next to the bathroom, and there are 2 more bedrooms on the second level;
Each of the 3 bedrooms has a double bed, and the 2 upstairs can each accommodate a single mattress on the floor;
Each of the second floor bedrooms has flex room for a private reading nook and/or desk space.
a main floor 3-piece bathroom (shower) with stacked washer and dryer;
an open, modern great room with a cathedral ceiling;
a compact kitchen that runs along the north wall that punches above its weight: white IKEA soft-close kitchen cabinetry (with 25-year transferable warranty) including a pantry with pull-out drawers, 2 large pots and pans drawers, under-counter lighting, fridge and stove (new in 2024) and an over-the-range microwave;
a virtually maintenance-Free Exterior Envelope: Vinyl siding (2014), Metal Roof (2007 main, 2014 second floor), PVC dual-pane, low E windows, R-12 fibreglass insulation with Tyvek wrap;
100 amp electrical service (located in utility room accessed at the back of the cabin) with grounded copper wiring;
Electric baseboard heat with 5 separate thermostat-controlled zones throughout the cabin;
A portable air conditioning unit and ceiling fan on main floor; and
A 40 gallon electric hot water tank (2023) (located in the shed on the deck at the back of the cabin)
Cordless top-down, bottom-up cellular shades on all of the main floor windows (excluding the primary bedroom) admit natural light into the great room without sacrificing privacy;
Good storage space, including a kitchen broom closet/storage, double closet in primary bedroom, storage room under the stairs, utility room built into the back of the cabin and hot water tank shed on the deck at the back of the cabin.