Floating hut with terrace and garden

The heat of these days makes me think of topics as "cool" as possible, in order to bear the 41 degrees more easily. The most appropriate for such a day seemed to me to be a floating cottage of a couple of American writers, who decided to live in retirement on the water. How they discovered this pleasure and how their lives unfolded is something worth recounting.

Margy and Wayne Lutz, Americans from Southern California, once vacationed in British Columbia, Canada. While hiking on Lake Powell they discovered something unique and interesting - floating log cabins. It was love at first sight and as they had been thinking for some time about where they could retire, they decided this was the place for them.

Floating cabins are nothing new to Canada's west coast. In the heyday of logging and fishing, they were used as camps for workers and could be easily moved from place to place. The cabins on Pawel Lake were used by workers in the local paper mills for fishing and hunting. Now they are used as holiday homes or, as in the case of the Lutz's, as a place to live peacefully in nature.

They bought the floating hut from a local manufacturer who also helped them a lot to adapt to the new way of life. Initially they only used it for holidays, but gradually they fell more and more in love with the place and especially with the idea of having nature on their doorstep, so they moved in altogether, spending most of the year in the lake house.

Before building the hut, a 14/14 m floating platform was constructed from large cedar logs tied together with strong cables. The platform was connected to the shore with a bridge.

Despite the fact that it can be considered small, 6.5/7 m, the house has absolutely everything necessary for normal living. On the ground floor there are 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a central space between them used as kitchen and living room and in the attic is the master bedroom.

The house is powered by solar, wind and thermoelectric power, with an addition of liquid fuel for the central stove for the cold winter months. Water from the lake is used, which is filtered, and all waste, including bathroom waste, is composted.

In addition to the floating platforms for the house and deck, one was built for Margy's garden. This is where much of the food used by the two is grown. The garden sits on the pulpit so it can be moved away from the shore so as not to be a temptation to local animals.

And for Wayne there is a place to retire. Anchored next to the platform is the Gemini, an old motorboat that has been renovated and is his office when he needs even more peace and quiet to write.

Margy and Wayne aren't the only ones with a floating cabin. There are many others, but the area is untouched, retaining its wilderness and purity. If you want to see how well you can live in the same space with a bear, watch the video below.

(source: tinyhouseblog.com)