LOVE ISLAND

A Winnipeg couple transformed a lake cabin into a Canadianainspired retreat

- By Iris Benaroia

EVERY VICTORIA DAY long weekend, when the ice has finally melted, Jeff and Chris Fettes hop in their boats and head for their island cottage in Kenora, Ontario.

Getting there requires navigating the sprawling Lake of the Woods, an expanse dotted with tens of thousands of islands that stretches from Ontario to Minnesota. But the effort is part of the fun: “Even a mundane task, like going to the grocery store by boat, is an excursion,” says Chris.

Like the lake, Jeff and Chris’s love affair crosses borders. They met 28 years ago at a Gold’s Gym in Orlando, Florida, where Jeff, originally from Regina, was studying audio recording and engineering, while Chris, a vocal performance student, was working as a dancer at Disney. The couple wanted to live closer to Jeff’s family so, in 2009, they moved to Winnipeg, where they now work as tech entrepreneurs. Seven years later, on a whim one weekend, they drove almost three hours east to Lake of the Woods to visit a new cottage that Jeff’s brother had recently bought.