Cottages
Designer Montana Burnett Supersizes A Classic Muskoka Cottage
Published on August 30, 2024
It’s 6 p.m. on a balmy summer evening in Muskoka, and the dock is already rocking. Twenty or so friends and neighbors have arrived at Marissa and Moez Kassam’s Lake Joseph cottage near Port Sandfield, Ont., drawn by the aromas of the family’s weekly Friday night dinner, the sounds of a live ’80s cover band and the laughter of kids whizzing by in a blur of wet bathing suits as they hurl themselves off the dock and into the lake. It’s happy chaos.
Like first love and summer camp, the Muskoka region is idyllic for many people, enveloped in a haze of happy, hot-weather memories. For them, cottage life is the comforting flap of a screen door, the redolent scent of cedar and pine needles beneath bare feet, and the slow-motion joy of lazy summer days spent doing absolutely nothing.
The end of summer is celebrated with a huge birthday bash for Moez attended by dozens of friends and neighbors. “We usually bring up a chef or two to help out,” says Marissa. “It’s always a full house, which is lovely.” It’s a good life. When the day comes to close up the cottage, the Kassams are ready to head back to the city. “But only because we know that, next summer, we’ll return to this,” says Moez. “It’s the greatest place on earth.”
For help, they turned to friend and designer Montana Burnett, who they had worked with on their Toronto homes. “Montana creates an energy and a vibe,” says Marissa. “Her aesthetic is laid-back, casual and warm. That was important to us, as our kids are little and we wanted it to feel homey.”
Scroll down for a tour of this stunning Muskoka cottage designed by Montana Burnett!
Surrounded by trees, the cottage has a classic Muskoka cedar-shake roofline and stone-clad exterior that blends in to the setting.
When they found it in 2020, a castle-like cottage with a turret perched at the top of a cliff with unobstructed views of the lake, they couldn’t believe their luck. Built at the turn of the century, restored a few times, then rebuilt in 1992 as a replica of the original summer house, the furnished cottage with two boathouses still had vestiges of the traditional charm they were looking for. It just needed to be renovated, expanded and optimized for entertaining.
Marissa and Moez Kassam with their kids, from left: Mila, Milan, Mikayla and Madeleine.
The renovation took two years and was divided into two phases. The Kassams were so eager to experience their first summer at the lake, they just moved in to the cottage as it was, built a mammoth bar on the 160-foot-long dock, then learned what they loved about the place, and where it needed improvement. “It rained a lot that first summer,” says Marissa. “We spent a lot of time on the veranda — it reminded us that the whole point of being at the cottage is to be outside, enjoying nature.”
Marissa and Moez’ wanted something different. Consummate entertainers, the couple hoped for a summer place that would work for their family of six, plus the crowds they’d happily invite over at the drop of a fork every summer weekend. It would also need to epitomize the romance of the region. “The cottage had to have panoramic sunset views and the kind of classic architecture that reflected what Muskoka was, and still is,” says Moez, a hedge fund manager, co-founder of Anson Funds, philanthropist — and a romantic at heart.
“I wanted the home to feel modern, but still cottagey,” says Montana, who kept the lines of the custom seating classic but scaled it up in size.
In the front entry, overscaled chairs and accessories ground the soaring space and add drama.
Phase 1 began the moment summer was over and lasted all winter. To maximize entertaining space and create the indoor-outdoor flow the family craved, Montana pushed the living room forward about six feet toward the water, added massive sliding doors along the lake side of the cottage, enlarged the deck, added a new rotunda-like turret specifically located at the best sunset viewpoint and bumped the bedroom count up from eight to 10. The designer added scrubbed wood beams in the great room to bring warmth and intimacy to the huge space.
A large custom mirror in the great room reflects the beauty of the outdoors.
The pine floors in the original turret were painted white, making this airy, light-filled dining room appear to float in space.
The existing kitchen was simply brightened up with paint. The Kassams may renovate it in the future, but now they have so many new outdoor entertaining spaces, they’re in no hurry.
Phase 2 began the following winter and involved updating all the cottage bathrooms and renovating the guest boathouse. Montana added a dark metal faucet and sconces in the ensuite to “keep the charm and erase the ’90s vibe.”
The Kassams wanted to keep some of the furniture that came with the cottage — like the principal bedroom’s rustic bed and nightstands.
The home office was expanded to accommodate Moez’ desire to a long desk where a few people could work together.
A party-ready bar is perfect for after hours entertaining.
Montana added garage doors to the front of the boathouse and created a cedar-clad room with a TV and sofas for the kids; there are bedrooms just above.
The boathouse (the one for boats) matches the main cottage exterior. Porthole windows add a quirky nautical detail.
With the design brief prioritizing a muted palette and natural textures, the cottage is filled with sink-in sofas, comfy wicker chairs, whimsical raffia pendants, scrubbed wood beams, and at least seven nubby sisal rugs underfoot. The vibe is classic Muskoka, with miles of painted-white panelling and statement wovens for a fresh look with texture. “It feels calming and serene,” says Montana. “I was inspired to design in a neutral palette that wouldn’t compete with the natural beauty that surround the property.” A comfy and casual living room in the guest boathouse.
Three summers in, the Kassam family rhythm shapes each day at the cottage. From the first week of June until the beginning of September, they rise early with the sun; Moez occasionally commutes to Toronto via seaplane to work while Marissa canoes the kids across the lake to camp. As the hours float by, they migrate from the kitchen to the dock to the diving board, with pit stops on the deck for lunch and dinner.
Madeleine jumps into the lake while Mila waits her turn.
Alex Lukey
Montana Burnett (design)/Brian Pharoah (architecture)