1243 RETREAT LANE - SOLD
The Essentials
A very pretty year-round cottage on Sydenham Lake, two minutes from the village and twenty from town. Fabulous deep waterfront. Throw yourself into it.
The Bigger Picture
There are a lot of shopping lists that begin this way: “A year-round cottage or home on deep, clean water twenty minutes from Kingston.” Most of those lists, though, have been kicking around for years, so difficult is that sort of property to actually find, especially at a decent price. It is the Alba truffle of homes, the lakeshore ghost in the machine.
1243 Retreat Lane is a wood-clad bungalow set high and privately above the deep waters of Sydenham Lake, amid emerald forest and just a serene ten-minute paddle from the village. It is precisely where you point to on a map when someone asks your for the ideal spot to settle.
The vaulted living room is all done up in knotty pine, with a grand fireplace, like something out of Tolkien, all fierce flame and granite block. This space gives onto an elevated deck that runs full width of the home. You’re in the tree canopy, looking down on the birds.
The modern kitchen is open to the living room, which means that no one gets isolated in there. You’re part of the celebration. The principal bedroom looks over the lake, so it connects to that same sky-high deck, and morning coffee never tasted so good as it does out there. An office at the back of the house could well serve as another bedroom in a pinch and that’s the way it’s used now, with its tartan pull-out and the hidden shortbread.
The basement rec room is big enough for a square dance and walks out at grade to the lawns and the long stairs down to the dock. There is another bedroom on this level, tucked dark and quiet into the hillside, and a second bathroom.
Ductless heat and AC will keep you comfortable all year long, whether you’ve arrived for the boating or the skating. And while the detached double garage provides loads of storage for everything your life of leisure might require, it could be readily converted to a grand bunkie, if the idea is to actually invite the crowds who will be pushing for an invitation.
The Floor Plans
