S1 | Rewind Design | E4 Jordan on Greenbough Lake
Jordan on Greenbough Lake
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Today on Rewind Design we have a special episode coming from much further north in Ontario than I’m used too. Today I speak to Jordan Fang, a designer, nature lover, reader + art lover who was a colleague of mine when we worked together at a commercial design firm in downtown Toronto (before I made the permanent move up north). Jordan’s family cottage, or should I say compound, is situated 4km down a logging route on the remote Greenbough lake, just south of the Ottawa River, and East of Mattawa. The compound consists of 7 family cottages, each owned by separate family members and the buildings range in age with original log cabins that Jordan’s great grandfather built by hand from logs felled on their property, to cabins inherited from the boy scouts. Mattawa historically was a huge logging hub for Northern Ontario connecting Ottawa River + lake Nipissing and remains a important historic landmark.
Without further ado, let’s jump into Episode #4 Jordon on Greenbough Lake - listen below, or on your favourite podcast platform. Just search for “Rewind Design” and look for Episode #3 on apple Music, Spotify or Amazon Music.
Greenbough Lake from afar
Greenbough Lake zoomed in!
History Of Mattawa
A little brief information before we dive deep into Jordan’s Story!
Mattawa is a bilingual town in northeastern Ontario, just across the river from the province of Québec. It sits on traditional Algonquin Nation territory – if fact, Mattawa’s name means “Meeting of the Waters” in the Algonquin language. The town is located at the confluence of the Ottawa and Mattawa rivers, and is the oldest settlement in the Nipissing District. A geographic hub, Mattawa has an extensive network of historic canoe and portage trails, as well as roads and railroads.
The first Europeans to set foot on Mattawa soil were Étienne Brûlé in 1610 and Samuel de Champlain in 1615. Brûlé was only 18 when he camped along its shores, and Champlain spent a few days there while he repaired his canoe. Mattawa’s geographic position was of strategic importance to the Europeans – it was along the water route that coureurs des bois and voyageurs would take from Montréal to the western frontier (Lake Superior country) to collect furs. It was said that canoes travelling west up the Ottawa river turned left at “the Forks” (the mouth of the Mattawa) to enter the “Petite Rivière”, before making their way to Lake Nipissing.
- www.tfcg.ca/history-of-mattawa
Jordan answers my questions!
History
Where is your property located, is it land or water access and what body of water does it sit on? Greenbough Lake
What township are you located in - how far to the closest town?
Head, Clara, Maria. Renfrew County. Closest town is Mattawa.
Can you describe your property, and your buildings over time?
The camp started in 1945 when my great grandfather and his sons started to clear land on the shore and construct true log cottages. They used manual methods to fell, skin and notch the trees for each cottage.
Can you describe for the readers what your cottage looks like, the type of construction and the general feeling of the cottage?
4 of the cottages are hand built log cottages. Very cozy and worn looking. They also have stone chimneys and mantles. The other 3 are re-purposed boy scout camp buildings that were mcguivered together. These are also very minimal and cozy feeling.
Do you know who built your cottage + who may have designed it?
My grandfather and his brothers.
How did you end up here - is this a recent purchase or a family generational cottage?
I've been coming here since I was born.
How long have you owned this property and what drew you or your family to the area?
Since 1945. My great grandfather was drawn to the area for fishing and hunting. The camp began as a hunt camp but over the years was converted to seasonal rentals for families before they were privatised about 10 years ago.
What is a special tradition you do at your cottage?
Thanksgiving is a HUGE family weekend. We gather up at the camp and on the Saturday we have soup day. Each family brings a pot of soup to the fire and we all share and catch up. There is usually about 40 family members that come.
What kind of activities do you do at the cottage?
We quad, swim, fish, kayak, hike and just spend time together.
Design
What year was your cottage built?
Late 1940's
What style of design is your cottage?
4 are log cottages the other 3 are out buildings that were converted to cottages. (2x4 construction with siding)
Have you had any design challenges at the cottage? (ex septic issues, no electricity, no dishwasher)
The oldest cottage needed a new floor put in as some of the joists were deteriorating. We took down all interior walls and took out the floor and sub floor in order to access underneath the cottage. This took a while to do. As our families get larger we keep thinking of ways of expanding the cottages but the favoured thing to do is to put up a bunkie on the property so it doesn't impact the history of the original cottages.
What do you like most about your cottage, and what do you like least?
I like that it is so remote. It is so quiet and calming when you are there. It is meditative just being up there. Least favourite thing.... I really can't think of one haha.
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Katy McNabb xo
