The Maine Cottage Patio Design

 The Idea

When we purchased the Maine Cottage we recognized that while this house was an absolute gem, there were some major changes that would bring this property to it's full potential. One of the focus areas for us was to increase the views and use of the lake.  Seems obvious but this house was not built with that intent in mind. The house is long and skinny and the smallest side is facing the lake. Also, the house included a deck (that was falling apart) and lattice work that cut off any possible views from the basement. The basement has windows along the lakeside but there was fill and only an attempt at a walk out basement. The door that was the access to the outside from the basement didn't work and therefore needed to be replaced.

 

Once the door was replaced, we could start to see the potential for not only the outside space under the screened in porch but also the use of the basement. 

NOTE: The basement was considered finished when we purchased the home. The floors were tile and the walls were covered with a strange green colored fake wood paneling. More on that later.

  

 

The design started with a blank sheet of paper and an idea that we could increase our lake frontage use for both inside and outside of the house... an exciting project! When sitting inside the house, in the basement, it was easy to imagine what it would look like if the lattice was removed and the "floor" outside matched the level of the walkout. I started to draw what that would look like from the outside looking in. This was the first hardscape project that I've designed and I wasn't sure about some of the constraints. I knew that I just needed to get my sketch close enough to seek out a professional. The details like where the retaining walls would sit, how big the patio would be and the true grade would be up to someone who does this for a living.

  

 

We contacted a local company, Landscape Design Co. and quickly got to work solidifying the design elements. We picked out the pavers, we placed the retaining walls, we located the steps and the walk paths. It was clear that they had done this many times before. They were quick to make suggestions and new the rules that we needed to work within. Being so close to the lake adds to the list of requirements and I was so grateful to have a team of people who knew exactly how to meet those. 

                      

Once we made arrangements, agreed on a quote and knew they would be arriving, we quickly got to work with the demo. This helped to really picture how big this change would be for this house. Starting to open up the views felt like something that should have been all along.

The big machines came in next to start to dig out the area under the screened in porch. This part happened so quickly! After months of planning, the dirt was gone in a matter of hours. The process was fun to watch... although a little nerve wracking to have the porch supported by a temporary support for a little while. 

  

This part of the project came together quickly. The retaining walls went in, the pavers went down, the new support columns went up and we had a patio!

 

 

 

This additional outside space has been such a great addition for us. We have already enjoyed S'mores and fires while watching the sunset over the lake. Now the biggest challenge is figuring out where we want to be... screened in porch or patio. 

 

 

The next part of this project will start at the beach to create a new wall separating the beach from the grass. The same blocks used for the retaining walls of the patio will be used and this will allow us to have a safe wall to transition down the beach. The current situation is just a bunch of unstable rocks placed on top of each other. We've struggled to get our boats, paddle boards, etc. down to the beach. The wall will have two sets of granite steps: (1) steps that connect with the winding path that leads to the patio and house stairs (2) steps in the middle of the wall for large boats to come down.

We're just waiting on Mother Nature to lower the water level enough to start the project.

UPDATE (August 2023): Mother Nature has not been kind to the project schedule. We were originally scheduled to have the whole project (beach wall and winding path) complete in Fall of 2022. Based on the amount of rain we've had in June and July of 2023, the project is still not complete.