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Steveo · 03-07-2009, 09:00 AM

My camp probably is not the oldest but I thought I'd share the story of its history:

20 years ago we bought our camp on the lake. It was a shack but had lots of history. The story is the "shack" was originally the boathouse for the house that was there at the time. It was originally a drive-in boathouse, probably built in the late 19th century. No way to know the age but all timber used were true dimensions - 2X4's were actually 2 inches by 4 inches. In the early 20th century the boathouse was moved on top of a crib dock. In the 50's the main house on the property burned down. The property was left as is for 15 - 20 years. Eventually the town got after the owner and stated that unless something was built on the property soon it would viewed as an unbuildable lot (only 1/4 acre) and nothing would be able to be built. So the next winter the owner moved the boathouse over the ice and placed it on cinder blocks on the property (as a result we got a great crib dock that I was able to restore). He installed a outhouse and it stayed that way until we bought it.

When we bought it the town would not let us tear down the structure so we had to work with it. Over the last 20 years we transformed the building while trying to keep the charm of the original boathouse. For example, the overhead timbers that were used to lift the boat for winter storage are still there.

We first made it into a one bedroom but when the kids got sick of sleeping in the same bedroom as Mom and Dad we had to expand. I did all the work myself and loved every moment of it. I would be on business trips on a plane and would be drawing up plans for the camp that I was planning for the upcoming weekend. Then that weekend I would work for a few hours and then take a break to go fishing or swimming with the kids - what a blast. Now that the camp is complete I really miss those days.

I have tried to get the history on the property with some success but it is hard to find anything that far back.

03-07-2009, 09:00 AM	#16
Steveo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 523 Thanks: 47 Thanked 123 Times in 63 Posts	Not the oldest but interesting history My camp probably is not the oldest but I thought I'd share the story of its history: 20 years ago we bought our camp on the lake. It was a shack but had lots of history. The story is the "shack" was originally the boathouse for the house that was there at the time. It was originally a drive-in boathouse, probably built in the late 19th century. No way to know the age but all timber used were true dimensions - 2X4's were actually 2 inches by 4 inches. In the early 20th century the boathouse was moved on top of a crib dock. In the 50's the main house on the property burned down. The property was left as is for 15 - 20 years. Eventually the town got after the owner and stated that unless something was built on the property soon it would viewed as an unbuildable lot (only 1/4 acre) and nothing would be able to be built. So the next winter the owner moved the boathouse over the ice and placed it on cinder blocks on the property (as a result we got a great crib dock that I was able to restore). He installed a outhouse and it stayed that way until we bought it. When we bought it the town would not let us tear down the structure so we had to work with it. Over the last 20 years we transformed the building while trying to keep the charm of the original boathouse. For example, the overhead timbers that were used to lift the boat for winter storage are still there. We first made it into a one bedroom but when the kids got sick of sleeping in the same bedroom as Mom and Dad we had to expand. I did all the work myself and loved every moment of it. I would be on business trips on a plane and would be drawing up plans for the camp that I was planning for the upcoming weekend. Then that weekend I would work for a few hours and then take a break to go fishing or swimming with the kids - what a blast. Now that the camp is complete I really miss those days. I have tried to get the history on the property with some success but it is hard to find anything that far back.