Cottage

We are slowing down our search for the perfect 'cottage.' We started to realize how many options are available, and we don't want to invest before we know exactly what we want.   Except its hard to know what we want, since we have very little experience cottaging.  So I am reaching out to you, in the hope that you can share some of your experience with us!!!

I gave up the idea of rustic, no electricity, off the grid living...and I have swung into the other camp: I want luxury!  Why so extreme Shannon? Because BUGS FREAK ME OUT!!!  (So do fish and any type of marine life but that's another story)...I simply can not except bugs...I refuse to live in harmony with bugs...I need a bug free environment.  Yes there is a large gap between luxury and bug infested...but I want AMAZING-WOWEE!!*

We are also tired of renovating.  We don't want to worry about maintenance and renovations on a second property.  We want to arrive, put our trunks on, and relax.

Luxury and maintenance free?  This does exist in Muskoka...there are fractional ownerships galore, as well as a few subdivision style cottage communities, or we can rent, or visit resort type lodges.

Four 'cottages' in one villa, on the beach, near bracebridge...fractional ownership...
2100 sq ft 3 bedroom - full kitchen

So this is where we need you!  Please share with us, what are you looking for in a cottage? how do you spend your time while you are at the cottage? At what age do kids get bored of the cottage? What do your kids love about the cottage (or what did you love about the cottage when you were growing up)?  How often do you get away?  Have you ever considered a fractional ownership?

I was going to put up a poll, but I really want to ask these open ended questions and hear from you!!!  Maybe you can also tell me what you think about the above villa/fractional ownership (purely based on one picture, a picture that's worth a thousand words!)  Thanks in advance for sharing!!!!!!!

This could be me!

*I probably sound a bit spoiled and you are right, I TOTALLY am!  We want a place we can share with friends and family, and really relax and enjoy ourselves for at least one week, maybe two every summer... and I want that place to be beautiful!  And close to the beach....We aren't likely to go every weekend because we have so much going on in the city...the occasional thanksgiving dinner hosted up north, or a New Years spent skating on a frozen lake would be nice too!