On today’s episode of Rewind Design, we have 94-year-old Ann Grotrian – a creative, an artist, a teacher, and above all, a lover of Georgian Bay. She loves bones, stones, shells and driftwood all of which you can find sprinkled around her ecclectic cottage!

She was born in 1928 in Toronto, grew up in Rosedale the youngest of 5 children with a father in the meat packing industry. They originally had a cottage on, believe it or not, Toronto Island!

As a teenager she attended the girls’ private school, Branksome hall in Toronto, and went to Ontario College of Art. She worked for 5 years at Henry Birk’s and Son in the window display department. When she was 45 she went back to school at George Brown for Jewelry making. She graduated and taught for 33 years and spent many happy years making jewelry.

Welcome to the first ever Rewind Design episode featuring a Muskoka cottager! I had the utmost pleasure of sitting down and speaking with a wonderful woman, Bonnie Bean and her daughter, in their generational family cottage on Lake Muskoka. Bonnie was so open to speaking about her family’s past, their journey to Muskoka and the initial challenges of owning a cottage in the early 1900s. Bonnie has been coming up to Muskoka from Toronto with her family for 82 years, ever since she was born. Her family has owned a piece of property just 4 miles north of Bala on Lake Muskoka for over 100 years. The property has since gone through some changes, as is bound to happen over 100 years, yet Bonnie is still cottaging as strong as ever! Even at 82 years young! The original lot was purchased by her grandfather in 1915, and was a rough and rocky property to develop. It took 2 years to build the cottage, with no access to electricity, and rough landscape conditions.

Welcome to Rewind Design A Cottage History Podcast with your host + Local Interior Designer, (me!) Katy McNabb. Today we will be putting the spotlight on a historical Parry Harbour cottage. Join me, as I navigate the waters and go back in time to explore this whimsical farmhouse on the bay.

This episode of Rewind Design is so exciting for me: not only is it close to home, but Patty’s family history dates back to the 1800’s when Parry Sound was only accessible by steam paddle boat. This story of perseverance and adventurous spirit is so compelling, true to this area and the generation of people that came here. This episode will be split into 2 parts, as after I met with Patty, I realised just how much history this property held and how there would be no way to fit all into one hour! Patty initially reached out to me via email with the following message:

Welcome to Rewind Design A Cottage History Podcast with your host + Local Interior Designer, (me!) Katy McNabb. Today we will be putting the spotlight on a historical Parry Harbour cottage. Join me, as I navigate the waters and go back in time to explore this whimsical farmhouse on the bay.

This episode of Rewind Design is so exciting for me: not only is it close to home, but Patty’s family history dates back to the 1800’s when Parry Sound was only accessible by steam paddle boat. This story of perseverance and adventurous spirit is so compelling, true to this area and the generation of people that came here. This episode will be split into 2 parts, as after I met with Patty, I realised just how much history this property held and how there would be no way to fit all into one hour!

Welcome to Rewind Design A Cottage History Podcast with your host + Local Interior Designer, (me!) Katy McNabb. Today we will be putting the spotlight on a historical Dorset cottage. Join me, as I navigate the waters and chat to my guests about their unique Dorset cottage and their family history over the last 100 years.

To start off this captivating story, I though I’d give a short little personal anecdote. I am lucky enough to work with an incredible design firm and each day I come into work, I sit next to a designer named Danielle. Months ago we were talking and I brought up my idea for a Cottage History Podcast. Her eyes lit up - in a flash she said “you have to speak to my mom!”. Excitedly, I typed out an email to her mom, Dianne, explaining my ideas and how I’d love to interview her. I anxiously clicked send and closed my laptop. A few days later she replied with an email, and what followed was an incredible cottage history story.

Today on Rewind Design we have a special episode coming from very close to home, Five Mile Bay - in the South Channel of Georgian Bay! My home territory! Janet and her husband Dave have been kind enough share their story of how their family landed in a renovated 1962 cottage on McLaren Island. There have been many additions and changes over the years, but the heart of the home has been passed down, generation after generation. Janet reached out to me on Facebook after I had shared my idea on the South Channel Association Page, and I was so grateful for her, because she was one of the first people to show interest in this venture, so thank you so much Janet + family! Janet and her family are cottage lovers, like me and I’m sure everyone listening agrees, there truly is no better feeling than that of boating up to your cottage on the Friday of a long weekend, and staring deep into the water while sipping on a cold drink and sharing laughs with your family. I hope all of you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer, and soaking it all in before winter crushes our spirits until spring comes around just as quickly as is always does!

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.

On this week's episode, we have an incredibly captivating story, which just might be the most fascinating, intriguing and sexy one yet. Today I speak with lifelong cottager Sadie who has flipped my world upside down with her breathtaking cottage history. Sadie shares the history of her Georgian Bay Island, how her grandparents acquired the striking island property in the 60’s and how the whispers of this property’s true origins baffled her family for decades until they found out the seductive truth behind their 1898 original island cottage. There were unmistakable clues sprinkled around the property that took a lifetime to unravel. I won’t give any more away in this intro, this story is way too extraordinary! If you are dying to learn the meaning behind their Island’s colloquial name, it’s not just the island that was getting a lot of action… further ado, let’s jump into Episode #3 Sadie on Action Island!

To jump right into the water, today’s guest will be another member of the McNabb family clan, my dad, Rick McNabb. He shares his story of how the McNabb family ended up in Parry Sound. Everyone thinks we’ve been here forever, but we’ve really only been here for the last generation. My dad and his family are originally from Mississauga and eventually moved up to Parry Sound in his 30’s following his mom and dad and all his brothers. He has had a diverse past with many jobs including working in Advertising, Corporate Canada and owning and operating the Harvey’s Swiss Chalet in Parry Sound. He is a lover of vehicles, and has also been a recreational pilot since before I was born. So, today we are going to talk about how it all started with my grandparents purchasing a cottage on Horseshoe Lake and how one act of serendipity changed the lives of all future generations of McNabb’s forever!

Welcome to Rewind Design - A Podcast dedicated to discovering the stories of Cottage Country in Ontario. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey and for the first official episode with a real live guest! Today on the show we'll be diving into a piece of cottage country I am very familiar with, the South Channel of Georgian Bay, home to my favorite place on earth. Our family cottage. And as I alluded to in my last episode, I will be speaking to a very important guest who happens to be one of the most influential people in my life - my mom! My mom is an amazing woman who is so passionate about the arts, is an amazing pie baker, and she is the world's best gardener.

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.

Cottage Country is awash of beauty and pleasure, but do you ever stop to think about the history behind it all? Rewind Design is a podcast putting the spotlight on Ontario’s Cottage Country, cottage design and all that comes with owning a cottage on the lake. Join your host, local Interior Designer, Katy McNabb, as she navigates the waters and chats to guests about their quirky cottage stories, adventures and researches the area we call home. Host and industry insider, Katy McNabb, draws on her own experiences and those of her guests to discuss their cottages inside and out!