Two of you

A weekend, the cottage, the lake.

The shape of it

Two bedrooms, one fireplace, no other guests on the property if you book the whole place. Forty-five minutes from Victoria, but the cell signal is your choice. The cottage is its own building, sixty feet from the dock, with a private deck and a wood-burning fireplace that does most of the work in winter.

We spent our tenth anniversary in the cottage in November, which is when we figured out it might be the best room on the property.

What's here

Skippable in any order. The point is the lake, not the itinerary — though we will write down where the dock chairs catch the best of the morning sun, if you ask.

48 hours, the loose version

Skippable in any order. The point is the lake, not the itinerary.

  • Friday evening — Stop at Unsworth on the way up. Their patio closes at 8pm in summer.
  • Saturday morning — Coffee on the deck. Swim if it's June or later.
  • Saturday afternoon — A cellar door at Blue Grouse, then a long walk on the Kinsol Trestle (twenty minutes south).
  • Saturday evening — Dinner at Genoa Bay Café (twenty-five minutes east, by car or by boat).
  • Sunday morning — Sauna, swim, hot tub. Drive home slowly.
Cozy cottage living room with fireplace

The cottage

Cedar walls, a wood stove, a window that frames the dock. The fireplace draws hard once it's lit; in January it heats the whole cottage on its own — there's split alder under the deck and dry kindling in the iron bucket. The bed faces west. Sunset lands in the room around eight in July.

Two bedrooms means you can split rooms if one of you snores. Most couples don't.

  • Two queen bedrooms with linen sheets in summer, flannel in winter.
  • Full kitchen — gas range, French press, Nespresso.
  • Wood-burning fireplace; firewood stacked by the door.
  • Private deck, lake-facing, with two Adirondack chairs.

The four things you'll use most

Sauna, hot tub, dock, kitchen. In that order, by Saturday night.

Private sauna

Finnish sauna

Wood-fired, seats six (you'll have it to yourselves). Hits one-eighty in about forty minutes. The lake is fifteen feet from the door.

Hot tub with lake views

Hot tub

102°F year-round. In November you can watch your breath go up and the stars come out at the same time. In February you can hear the ice clink on the rim of the cover when the temperature drops past freezing.

Private dock at sunset

Private dock and beach

Sixty feet of shoreline. Two paddleboards. A swim float thirty feet out. The water is warm enough to swim from late June through early September.

Cottage kitchen

Kitchen

Gas range, two ovens, French press. Pick up halibut at Cowichan Bay on the way in; the fishmonger closes at five.

Cowichan Valley wine country

The valley

Cowichan is the warmest valley in Canada. Twelve wineries within a fifteen-minute drive. Unsworth, Blue Grouse, Merridale Cidery, Averill Creek. Most pour from eleven to five; some close earlier in winter.

Pick up cheese at True Grain in Cowichan Bay and charcuterie at Hilary's. The Genoa Bay Café is twenty-five minutes east — by car, or by boat in summer if you charter from the dock.

Within fifteen minutes

  • Unsworth Vineyards (kitchen and cellar door).
  • Blue Grouse Estate (tasting room and patio).
  • Merridale Cidery (food, fire, cider on tap).
  • Massage and bodywork in Mill Bay, on request.

What people come for

Anniversaries are the biggest one. Honeymoons in October. The rest is whatever weekend you needed.

Honeymoons

October mornings, fireplace lit, no schedule. Most honeymoon stays book five nights or more.

Anniversaries

The most-booked occasion here. Couples often return on the same weekend year after year.

Proposals

End of the dock at sunset is the obvious one. Brianna will make sure you're alone.

Babymoons

Hot tub off-limits in the third trimester; everything else is fair game. The bed is firm.

Phones off

Cell signal is honest two bars on the deck and patchy on the dock. Wi-Fi works if you decide it should.

No reason at all

The most common reason. A November weekend, the fireplace, and nothing on the calendar.

The cottage

Trust the photographs.

Romantic cottage bedroom
Cottage exterior
Lake views from cottage
Cottage interior
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"Drove up after work on a Friday in October. Lit the fire, ate cheese from True Grain, slept until ten. Came home Monday morning. We've been back twice since."

Emily and James Anniversary, October

Pricing

Two ways to book it.

Cottage-only: $999/night shoulder, $1,999/night peak. Two-night minimum. Cleaning fee $200. Fully refundable up to 30 days before arrival.

Whole property (cottage + main house, just the two of you): $3,500/night shoulder, $7,500/night peak. The full property to yourselves — sauna, hot tub, dock, both buildings, no other guests.

Add-ons through Brianna: private chef dinner, in-cottage massage, wine country driver. Tell her what you want; she'll line it up.

If you want the place to yourselves, take the whole property. Brianna will quietly clear the calendar.

Hold a weekend — Brianna replies within 4 hours

Hold a weekend

Send Brianna the weekend you're after. She replies within four hours, holds the calendar for two days, and won't tell anyone what you're up to.

Request a weekend +1 (236) 638-1478