Every year, House & Home features beautiful Canadian cottages from across the country. From ultramodern beach houses in B.C. to cozy lakehouses in Ontario, these picturesque summer homes effortlessly combine style and comfort. With cottage season just around the corner, we rounded up some of our favorite spaces, straight from the pages of H&H. Scroll down!

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At first it wasn’t the Kawarthas, it was the cabin that charmed Matthew and Rick Bettencourt, prompting them to drop everything and drive one and a half hours to put in an offer. Now, it’s both.

The two-man team behind design agency and retailer Bettencourt Manor didn’t have a specific location or type of property in mind when they began their search for an all-season escape from the city. Their main goal was to find a spot big enough to host large gatherings of friends and family, especially over the holidays. Although they’d never really considered the Kawarthas before, they were immediately smitten with the 1,400-square-foot log cabin on one and a half wooded hectares in Omemee, Ont. “We fell in love with the rounded shapes of the logs and the arches, which are rare to find in a log cabin, as they’re usually quite boxy and cookie-cutter,” says Matthew.

Scroll down to tour this cozy holiday space!

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Country homes, cottages and cabins are especially enchanting during the holiday season. A retreat set on snow-blanketed fields or overlooking an icy lake is picturesque, especially when all the windows are lit up, and the fireplace is freshly stoked inside. Get inspired by these rustic holiday getaways that will make you want to spend Christmas in the country.

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Life at the cottage revolves around the kitchen, whether it’s shucking corn for the next family meal, hosting a big brunch for guests or replaying highlights from an epic canoe trip. Here are some of our favorite cottage kitchens from the House & Home archives — both big and small — that make the most of the cottage vibe with natural materials, lake-inspired palettes and plenty of seats.

Scroll down and get inspired by these fabulous cottage kitchens!

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It’s not often you know a house is The One without even stepping through the front door. But for artist Ronda Diamond and Richard Cherney, a lawyer, a video tour was all it took to fall head over heels for this Knowlton, Que., charmer — which came impeccably furnished, down to the last detail. “It was just so pretty,” says Ronda.

Montreal designer Luke Havekes had bought the hilltop house as an investment, then gutted and decorated it. Having already renovated a condo and house in Montreal for Ronda and Richard, he knew they’d appreciate his fearless take, and the location. “It’s in an area that’s more Hamptons than mountains, with pastoral fields, farmland and horses,” says Luke. That said, the house, built in 1977, was a mess when he started; it needed everything from new plumbing and electrical to better balconies, windows and a roof. Luke’s makeover took just over a year, and he gave himself carte blanche on the decorating. “This house is layered and eclectic in a pared-down way, not packed to the rafters — it feels full and cozy,” he says.

Scroll down to tour this country home in the treetops!

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Patrick Warren and Kevin Kaufman searched high and low for a place to build a cottage that would reflect their free-spirited ethos. From the Gulf Islands to commuter community Bowen Island, nothing felt exactly right…until they found Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast. Their half-hectare lot overlooked the Georgia Strait, a historical lighthouse on a nearby island and a seal colony. Plus, it was an easy ferry ride to Vancouver.

They launched headfirst into the planning process — by setting up their tent. “We wanted to capture the sense of exploration you get by camping on the site,” says Patrick, who’s a senior associate at Frits de Vries Architects + Associates. As well as connecting them more closely to the land, camping also helped them orient the house (its footprint was designed to preserve almost all of the trees on the site), and influenced the interiors, too. Both sun and trees would impact where the cottage was sited; they soon figured out the best place for the principal suite in order to enjoy spectacular morning vistas. “We located the bedroom on our favorite part of the site,” says Kevin, who owns a custom aquarium company. “Now it feels like we’re waking up in paradise.”

Scroll down to see more of this stunning B.C. cottage!

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Looking to breathe new life into your cottage? Here are fast ways to freshen up your cottage so you can enjoy it all year long.

Scroll down and get inspired!

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Peter Welles doesn’t remember if it took an hour or an entire afternoon, but he knows exactly where he was when he hit that childhood rite of passage: catching his first fish. It was a perch, pulled from Lake Huron at the cottage. “My family has been going to this spot for 90 years; it’s part of my DNA,” says Peter. A long-standing conservationist, he volunteers with organizations that are working on nature-based solutions to climate change, so it’s understandable he considers the site “his spiritual home.” Untouched wilderness, stunning sunsets and reverie-inducing waters sum up the splendors of the North Channel of Lake Huron, an hour’s drive east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Peter actually lives on the other side of the border in Michigan (he commutes to Canada by electric car), and says the area is popular with vacationing Americans due to its proximity and beauty.

For years, he docked and spent time at his island cottage, but now his adult children stay there. “They like the island experience,” he says. As Peter gets older, he prefers having year-round and car access. So he built a breathtaking lakehouse on the mainland, just a short boat ride away from the island cottage. He made sure it could handle a bustling bunch — his kids and grandkids — but also feel cozy when it was just him and Loonie, his English cream golden retriever. “We designed it to live large or small, so when it’s just me during the winter, it’s comfortable,” says Peter. “I don’t feel like I’m swimming in a great big place.”

Scroll down to see more of this inviting lakeside retreat!

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Whether you spend your cottage weekends reading by the water or taking frequent dips into the lake, nothing beats sitting dockside with a cool or warm beverage in hand. Throughout the years, House & Home has featured some gorgeous Canadian docks that stretch from the shores of Vancouver Island to the lakes of Muskoka.

Which dock style is your favorite? Scroll down to find out!

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As a longtime cottager, designer Anne Hepfer understands the allure of Ontario’s Muskoka region very well. So when she was asked to rebuild a family’s boathouse after it was damaged by ice, she rose to the challenge, overseeing both the architecture and the interior design. The completely new structure visually relates to the main cottage and feels like it’s always been here.

Once she’d navigated the many technical considerations, Anne set about creating a design plan that balanced beauty with practicality. She zeroed in on the sheer romance of a boathouse, a slice of real estate that’s half water, half wood, where cottage memories are made. The decorating is graphic and understated, with subtle nautical touches, woven accents and pops of blue. Wire-brushed white oak floors add warmth, and lantern sconces, rope mirrors and Breton stripes are nautical touchstones.

Keep scrolling to tour a Muskoka boathouse that straddles the water and the land!

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