For Ottawa-based couple Rachel Hart and Taylor Graf, building a bunkie at their cottage, a two-bedroom trailer on Lac Johnson, Que., wasn’t just a solution for their own growing family. They’re active hosts with two young daughters, and their friends’ families are expanding too. “The property itself is fantastic, but the trailer is too small. We needed something bigger and winterized,” says Rachel.
Rachel, an architect, was pregnant with their second daughter during the first year of building. She drafted the blueprints and supervised construction. Taylor is an engineer. “My contribution was mostly general labour,” he says. Together, the couple had a hand in almost everything except pouring the foundation and installing the metal roof.
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The bunkie replaced an existing shed—local bylaws limited the number of outbuildings they could have. The new structure has a kitchen and bathroom, plus a second level that sleeps four. The couple repurposed offcuts from the siding for shelves and cabinets, which four-year-old Rowan helped paint and then tried to install with her rubber mallet. Two-year-old Tegan, says Rachel, spent her time “just hanging around.”
Rachel and Taylor had lots of help, and not just from their children. Rachel’s family made the eight-hour drive from Windsor, Ont., to babysit the kids. Friends from Ottawa raised walls and applied sheathing. And when Taylor shot a framing nail through the tip of his thumb, they took him to the hospital. “It’s a good thing he didn’t nail himself to the bunkie,” says Rachel.
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After two years, the bunkie remains an ongoing project—the interior, Rachel predicts, will be done by the fall. Next steps include installing solar panels, adding a woodstove and chimney, and hooking up the sink and composting toilet.
Guests have started using the bunkie, even though it’s still “glorified camping,” says Rachel. For the friends who helped build, “they have a personal connection to the place.”
Check out this family’s barn-inspired bunkie
The pair learned that it really does take a village: to build a bunkie, raise children, and foster a cottage community. “We didn’t even have to ask for help; people just came,” says Rachel. “I’m positive someone with the experience could do this in half the time,” but that’s not the point, she says. “It’s about the learning experience of doing it for yourself.”
This story originally appeared in our Spring ’26 issue.
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