Country Comfort

By Marc Huminilowycz | Photography by Clay Dolan

A locally built contemporary country home takes shape on twenty-five wooded acres south of Collingwood—brought to life through family collaboration and local craftsmanship.

When a local Collingwood couple, Trevor Garbutt and Kathryn Baulke, purchased a twenty-five-acre parcel of wooded land south of town in Clearview Township, they decided to design and build their new dream home themselves—with help from family. Trevor, a successful builder and renovator, owns the construction company used on the project.

For their home’s interior design, the homeowners chose Interiors by AG (a division of AG Designs Co.) in Collingwood,owned and operated by Trevor’s  cousin. The interior decoration was an obvious choice—two sibling aunts, affectionately named “Aunt D and D,” who had decorated their four previous homes. Other professionals involved in the project were all local, including a renowned architectural designer, a skilled millworker, plus all material suppliers and trades—with all work managed and tastefully curated by the couple.

“What we were looking for in the design of our new home was something not too modern, with a country feel, lots of natural features and plenty of natural light. I guess you could call it ranchstyle contemporary country,” said Kathryn. Work began on the home about two years ago, and the couple, along with their young adult son and daughter, moved in last November.

Entering the 5,800-square-foot home, the open-concept design, the natural white oak floors, ceilings and beams, the warm white shiplap on the walls, and the detailed custom millwork create a warm and inviting environment—not rustic, but rural refined. The home is one level with a loft, with no basement except a crawl space, and radiant in-floor heating.

The couple’s living area on the east side of the home includes the master bedroom with a vaulted oak ceiling and a large ensuite bathroom, a laundry room, a workout room, and the largest walk-in closet this writer has ever seen—really a large clothing and dressing room with stained maple wall units and a large window. This entire living area is surrounded by nature and greenery, with a walkout to a private deck, hot tub and sauna. During the tour of the home, we glimpsed a small herd of deer by the stream in this pristine wooded area. It also features a view and access to the courtyard and pool.

Separating the couple’s living area from the rest of the home is an open-concept kitchen and great room space, including an adjacent windowed dining room with vaulted oak ceiling and a stone-faced wall. In the living room, there is a vaulted white oak beam ceiling, a windowed wall facing north, and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace which looks like it was built with natural stone, but was in fact masterfully crafted to resemble a large country hearth using carefully cut stone and mortar. The kitchen features a lower ceiling finished in warm white shiplap and beams, with beautiful natural oak custom millwork and cabinetry.

Trevor and Kathryn contracted Cedarport Windows and Doors in Thornbury—whom they have worked with on previous projects—for the design and installation of their highperformance, energy-efficient vinyl windows and patio doors manufactured by Strassburger in Kitchener, Ontario.

Off a hallway from the kitchen is a large butler’s pantry, a wet bar and coffee room, a guest powder room and a main laundry area. The west end of the home contains three bedrooms with bathrooms for visiting family and friends, a music room, and a mudroom with garage entrance. From here, a walkout leads to a screened-in Muskoka room with a wood-burning fireplace overlooking the courtyard and pool. A stairwell from this area leads to an extra open space that could be transformed into a fifth bedroom.

From the bedrooms to the great room, the entire home is thoughtfully designed for aesthetic appeal, country comfort, excellent flow and functionality, with everything where it should be. A reflection of the couple’s tastes and laid-back lifestyle, its design elements are, as they describe them, a carefully chosen mix of old and new.

“Although aunts D and D are not professional designers, they have great taste and they love to shop for unique antiques and new wall art, rugs, accents and accessories, mostly locally sourced,” said Kathryn.

“This is the fifth house of ours the aunts have worked on, and they really captured the look and feel of what we were looking for,” she added, mentioning some of her favourite design elements: an antique table behind the living room couch, which used to be the couple’s dining room table but is now a “theme table” with decorative items on top; and a distressed antique exterior door with a new mirror, hung horizontally over a bed in one of the bedrooms.

“They love coming in and doing all the placements, choosing the ‘knick-knacks,’ and figuring out which furniture goes where.”

While the aunts took care of the home’s décor, Interiors by AG managed the design of all the cabinetry and millwork, choosing the home’s colours, interior and exterior lighting, flooring and tile. By far, the defining design element in the home is the superb craftsmanship in the millwork—cabinetry, built-ins, wall units and some furniture pieces—crafted by Barber Millwork near Creemore. Established in 2006, the company specializes in high-end custom millwork and cabinetry projects in Southern Georgian Bay.

“Our team of highly skilled people is dedicated to the highest standards of quality craftsmanship,” said owner Kenny Barber. “We work closely with clients to create designs that are not only visually stunning, but also functional and durable for years to come.”

“This was our first project with these homeowners. We came to them highly recommended, and they fully trusted us,” Barber added. “Our work is evident throughout the home—in the kitchen, the butler’s pantry, the great room surrounding the fireplace, the Muskoka room, the mudroom, the dressing room, the master bedroom and ensuite, laundry rooms and bathrooms. It’s all made of specially selected white oak, which was left natural rather than stained and sealed with a water-based finish.”

According to Barber, AG supplied the designs. His crew did the initial measurements, the final shop drawings, the builds and the installations, working closely with the homeowners, who played a big role in the final result.

Away from the home is a large, separate wooden building that resembles a small barn. “It’s my husband’s workshop and storage for tractors, construction equipment, and of course, the toys. It gets used a ton,” said Kathryn.

On the second floor of the building is a games room including a pool table, a TV and a golf simulator, where family and friends gather to relax and have fun.

The result is a warm, relaxed and tastefully designed contemporary country home on twenty-five private acres close to town—designed, decorated and built by family, with a separate play space to unwind after a long day’s work. Here, a local Collingwood family has created the perfect setting to enjoy the pleasures of country living for many years to come. E