Vol.8.1 OPEN HOUSE Sunday Aug. 18 12-3 Clear Lake Cabin For Sale, Fairy Dust Included

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:

My parents purchased the original cabin in 1997. At that time it was a 16’ x 24’ 2-bedroom bungalow.

Between July 2013 and July 2015 a major renovation was undertaken as follows:

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);
Exterior finishes were removed, the exterior envelope wrapped in Tyvek and new vinyl siding installed;
The cabin footprint was extended by 8’ (16’ x 32’) with new concrete pads poured and beams installed;
Neil Fleming, local contractor, was hired to add a second storey; and
a stone patio was installed.

The finished product features:

3 bedrooms, the primary on the main floor and 2 more on the second;
2 closets in the primary bedroom, one for clothing, the other for storage;
each of the second floor bedrooms has a double bed and a desk or sitting area with an extra floor mattress for when you need to rack ‘em, pack ‘em and stack ‘em;
a main floor 3-piece bathroom (shower) with laundry facilities;
a spacious main floor great room with cathedral ceiling;
a compact kitchen that punches above its weight: white IKEA soft-close kitchen cabinetry (25-year transferable warranty) including a pantry with pull-out drawers, 2 large pots and pans drawers, under-counter lighting, broom/storage closet, new fridge and stove, built-in microwave;
Cordless top-down, bottom-up cellular shades on all main floor windows except the primary bedroom;
Maintenance-Free Exterior Envelope as follows: 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;
Portable air conditioning unit and ceiling fan on main; and
40 gallon electric hot water tank (2023) (located in the shed on the deck at the back of the cabin).

Yearly Expenses