The definitive book on "lake-house " style.

This richly illustrated book takes the reader deep into lake country to reveal the essence of lake house and summer cottage style. Spectacular photographs and insightful essays capture the best of 100 revered homes.

Lake Houses is a guided tour of gardens where bright impatiens grow among the roots of island trees, past hammocks hung from the weathered beams of a breezy wraparound veranda, into rustic turn-of-the-century cottage kitchens, and across the warm wood floors of sun-drenched sitting rooms on the bay.

This enchanting book is full of memories, but it also serves as an idea book. In these pages, lake house owners from several regions welcome visitors onto their properties and open the doors to their beloved summer residences.

Included are chapters on:

• Exteriors
• Living rooms
• Dining rooms
• Kitchens
• Boathouses
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Guest cabins and bunkies
• Decks, docks and gazebos
• Verandas and porches
• Wall works and fireplaces
• Gardens.

Whether designed by a famous architect or a pragmatic relative many generations ago, these lake houses represent the soul of summer.

 

John de Visser, R.C.A. and the Grand River Conservation Foundation

John Visser's profile page

Judy Ross' profile page

Even if you don't own a cottage or waterfront property, this stunning pictorial is the ultimate stress reliever.

Winnipeg Free Press

This book presents cottages to sigh for.

The Globe and Mail

The pictures, with minimal text, are quite sufficient to keep our lake-house dreams alive.

New Journal (Ohio)

Guides the reader deep into cottage country. Looking at lake house and summer cottage style, the book tours 100 homes through photographs and essays, and is destined to stir nostalgia even as it invites readers to open the door to new design options.... Photographer John de Visser's exceptional images capture the setting, while Collingwood's Judy Ross brings the homes' souls to life. Scenic and dreamy, this is both an excellent idea book and a welcome escape from the tribulations of winter months.

Hamilton Magazine's Interiors

Thumbing through this beautiful coffee table book will leave you pining for quiet, relaxed summers at the lake.

Vancouver Sun

In Lake Houses, photographer John de Visser takes readers on a spectacular tour of 100 exquisite summer homes. His camera travelled far and wide deep into lake country to reveal the essence of the lake house and summer cottage. The book provides an insider's tour of vivid gardens, breezy wraparound verandas, turn-of-the-century boathouses and sun-drenched sitting rooms overlooking the bay. Lake Houses is full of memories, but it also serves as an idea book. Within its pages, lake house owners from several regions welcome visitors onto their properties and open the doors to their beloved summer residences. Whether designed by a famous architect or a pragmatic relative many generations ago, these lake houses represent the soul of summer.

Frontenac This Week

[Makes] it easy to imagine lazy afternoons watching the world breeze by the end of the dock.

Times-Colonist (Victoria, BC)

Thumbing through this beautiful coffee table book will leave you pining for quiet, relaxed summers on the lake.... Even if you don't own a cottage or waterfront property, this stunning pictorial is the ultimate stress reliever.

The Ottawa Citizen

While spring and a return to the cottage may seem like a long way off, Lake Houses is an enjoyable book that will entertain cottagers until they return to their wilderness retreats. [blog carried by Alliston Herald, Barrie Advance, Blue Mountain Courier Herald, Collingwood Connection, Huronia Bush Times, Innisfil Journal, Midland Mirror, Meaford Express, Orillia Today, Stayner Sun, Wasaga Sun)

http://metrolandnorth.typepad.com/glenn_perrett/

The book provides an insider's tour of vivid gardens, breeze wraparound verandas, turn-of-the-century boathouses and sun-drenched sitting rooms overlooking the bay. Lake Houses is full of memories, but it also serves as an idea book. Within its pages, lake-house owners from several regions welcome visitors onto their properties and open the doors to their beloved summer residences. Whether designed by a famous architect or pragmatic relative many generations ago, these lake houses represent the soul of summer.

Frontenac This Week/Kingston This Week