Tour a farmhouse cottage

Photo by Stacey Brandford

Introduction

In our October 2010 issue, we featured a gorgeous old cottage in Muskoka, owned by Toronto couple Viki Mansell and Kevin Keeley. Viki is the stylish eye behind beloved antique and home decor shop Absolutely. If you’ve ever visited her shop, you’re familiar with her amazing ability to mix traditional and modern styles, and her clever way of making even the most everyday object look like a piece of art. Her cottage, a former lodge, is a showcase of these skills and is clearly a labour of love. The couple bought the place when it was in near-derelict condition, fixed it up using lots of elbow grease and white paint, and over the years have done most of the maintenance themselves, not to mention nurturing a beautiful garden. I’m delighted to share with you a few photos that didn’t make it into the pages of the magazine (choosing which shots to feature was no easy task). I’ll also be posting more outtakes from the shoot in the next couple of days. Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Pictured: The exterior