Boho Bolthole

Ian and Shelley swapped their Toronto condo for a life-changing lakeside shack on an island

- Jenny Tucker

As another year comes close to its finale, the need to calibrate and ponder about the days that have gone and those that may be ahead, settles like snowfall. And there is nowhere more conducive to life-wondering than this pocket-sized cottage on the edge of a vast stretch of water in Ontario, Canada, two hours east of Toronto. It is a home which breathes slowly, unassuming yet cosy and enticing; a tranquil retreat immersed in the magnificence of the natural beauty that encompasses it during the long, shadowy months of deep winter.

Owner Ian Letts has grown to appreciate the grandeur of the freezing season and the unique lifestyle it creates. ‘There is a wonderful sense of stillness here,’ he reveals. ‘Lake Consecon is six miles long and one mile across. In winter it completely freezes over. When my wife Shelley and I sit in the cottage we can hear the ice moaning, almost like the song of a whale. The sky is full of migrating birds en route to warmer places, and we really tune into the light and dark cycle. We have a big fireplace, there are always lots of blankets, and as the night sky arrives prematurely we move into semi-hibernation with early bedtimes.’