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Rewind Design
A Cottage history Podcast - Starting with my own story!
Hello! My name is Katy McNabb, and I am the creator of Rewind Design - A Cottage History Podcast. In honour of Canada Day weekend, I am releasing the first episode dedicated to my own personal cottage history story! I decided to create this podcast and associated blog because I am extremely passionate about cottage country and how everyone and everything ended up here! I wanted to create a space for cottages and cottage lovers alike to share stories of migration to cottage country over the years, childhoods spent on the lakes, stories of generations of fun in one of the most treasured areas of Ontarians (and everything in between). I love to hear how cottagers ended up where they are and most often the reasons why people end up where they are is full of mystery and serendipity. For example, How did a generation of farmers come to own 100 acres of land on a now very populated point in Parry Sound with the original 1894 farmhouse still standing. How did a family of loggers buy a lot in Dorset in the early 1900s for $100 and didn’t know there was an existing 10 x 10 cabin on the property until they walked the site? How did an island cottage on Georgian Bay end up being a Bootleg Gin Distillery for many years until WW2?… These are all stories I am going to share in upcoming episodes of Rewind Design! There are so many stories to share and explore and I cannot wait to dig deeper into Cottage Country History with you every 2 weeks. So stay tuned for upcoming episodes airing every 2 weeks on Mondays starting today July 4th. You can follow my instagram page at @rewinddesign.interiors, or you can send me an email at katy@rewinddesign.ca to be added to my email list for episode notifications.
twins in the cuddie!
Laura and I on the bay
To give you a little backstory to me as a person and my own history, I was born and raised in the heart of Georgian Bay, Parry Sound and spent most of my summers on the water. When I was born my parents lived on Horseshoe Lake, which is on the old highway 69 and about 10 minutes south of Parry Sound. My dad would take me and my twin sister out in the boat to sooth us from crying when we were babies, and would bring us back to the house when we were finally asleep. It was from this moment on that I’ve loved boating! We moved into town when we were about 2, and from then on we always had a boat docked at a marina in Parry Sound on the bay. My mom and dad would take us out out picnics and explore different areas of the bay; Killbear, Indian Docks, Parry Island and a spot in the south channel called Hot Rocks (I’m not sure what the actual name of this place is but I can definitely show it to you by boat!) When we got older we started to rent cottages for a few weeks each summer and my favourite one was a cottage on an island called little spruce which was a short boat ride from Killbear Marina. I can still remember the small cabin and its 2 bedrooms flanking the main living room cabin with a peaked roof and exposed rafters. The cottage was definitely a summer home with no insulation and a lot of character and charm. The cottage ran off a generator and had the coolest composting toilet. It was in this cottage that me and my sister learned how to play euchre for the first time, which we still play religiously every time we see my parents. My favourite part of the cottage was the screened in porch with a daybed, which I would sleep in every night. I loved the sounds of the waves crashing, the wind in the white pines and the sounds of the crickets. These weeks spent on Little Spruce made me appreciate the rustic and wholesome nature of cottage life. Later on we rented a cottage close to Sans Souci which was a whole new area to explore! But finally 11 years ago we bought our forever cottage on Derbyshire Island on the South Channel which was a life changing experience for me, as it really gave me a home base that I felt like I was really lacking. We have developed a community of friends and neighbours who we love deeply and who have become some of the best friends I have today. We host events together, wedding showers, badminton tournaments, lobster boils!
my beloved tinnie
this boat took me to and from work and really worked my right bicep! The ice cream scooping really worked my left arm to balance things out!
When I was about 15 I started working at a restaurant on McLaren Island called Craganmor point resort. This Restaurant had been there for years, and had gone through several changes. I believe it was once a dance hall which hosted many people, and it shifted to more of a restaurant and ice cream bar in later years. I worked as a dishwasher initially, and worked my way up to waitress when I was old enough to serve alcohol. I worked there for many many summers, and drove my cherished tinny back and forth about 5 mins each way to and from my shift. I loved everything about working there, meeting all the local cottagers, who came in all the time with their regular orders, meeting people who had boated in from afar and had heard about this little restaurant on the water, and I loved the team of people I worked with, who changed every year. I met people from all over the world and made connections for life. There is one family who we are the closest with in our little cottage community who we actually met at this restaurant. Me and my twin sister, about 7 or 8 at the time, were fishing off the Craganmor dock with my dad. Another 2 twin girls around the same age were also fishing off the same dock with their dad. The dads got to talking and it was an instant connection. My dad turned around to call for my mom “Bev!” And both my mom and the other twin's mom turned around - both our moms names are Bev! From then on we became inseparable and have been seeing each other every summer since (even before we got our own cottage)
View from our cottage!
we have the most amazing sunrises from our dock!
Over the last 11 years of owning the cottage I have been through a lot of life experiences. We moved to Vaughan when I was 13 and I had to start high school with a completely new class of students. However, my favourite part of high school was when I went on exchange and I lived in France for 3 months. Next, I graduated from Ryerson University where I majored in Interior Design and Minored in French studies. During university I went on exchange to New Zealand for a year and travelled all over the 2 islands. After university, I moved back to France for 2 years and ended up living in the French Alps and managed a small chalet hotel at the base of a ski resort. This experience was amazing and really changed my life! the cottage is my favourite place on earth to this day, no matter where I travel! I will be sharing an upcoming episode with my mom about our current cottage!
ice in the spring
April of 2020 with my dad - we made it out right as the ice was melting!
Fast forward to 2020 and I ended up living at the cottage for an entire summer, while working remotely from a design job in Toronto. My dad + I boated out the South Channel of Georgian Bay from Parry Sound, and reached the cottage at the beginning of April 2020 - there was still ice out in the channels! Being up north again inspired me, and narrowed my focus and passion for cottage country, the people who cottage on these lakes and even more so how the heck everyone and everything ended up here! I now work permanently up north at a design firm based in Port Carling and love every minute of it. I am personally curious about historical design + architecture and the restoration of cottages. I love the natural landscape of Georgian Bay rock, as well as the native species and plants. I love the art + culture of rural areas and the relaxed lifestyle. Not only did I grow up here, but I am lucky enough to live and work as an interior designer in the most beautiful place in the world. I fall in love with the bay over and over again every time we open the cottage shutters in the spring. The feeling, this history, the nostalgia, we’ve all felt it: whether you are visiting a generational family cottage or building a new cottage for yourself, we all have a story to tell. Let me help you tell yours!
Katy McNabb xoxo
If you would like to support this podcast, please follow along to patreon.com/rewinddesign. If you would like to support the show in other ways or share your own cottage story, please send an email to katy@rewinddesign.ca