Call it a real estate light bulb moment. When Peter Mogl-Maclean and Paula Washington began looking for land on which to build a cottage in Nova Scotia in 2020, Peter realized many otherwise prime coastline views were blocked by hills or trees. “I said to Paula, ‘There’s a lot of undervalued real estate if we recognize that our first floor should be 30 feet in the air,’ ” he says, with a laugh.
The joke soon evolved into an exploration of, “What if?” After a year-long search, the couple found a narrow, 15-acre property that fit their budget near Broad Cove, a small community about 45 minutes south of Lunenburg. The land was littered with blown-down trees, but Peter and Paula could see the property’s potential. To know for sure, they hired a boom truck to hoist them up in the basket for a bird’s eye view. Peter’s hunch was right: 30 feet up in the air, there were panoramic ocean views to the east and rolling hills to the south. For Peter, who’d always loved the imposing nature of towers—“Being up high somehow makes me feel safer”—it was a dream opportunity. “He’d been talking about building a tower for about 10 years,” says Paula. “Here was his chance.”
There was, however, one glaring obstacle. Peter and Paula knew how to build a small cabin on the ground; they’d already completed two previous builds for their rental business, Shackup Cabins. But a cabin in the sky? That was a new challenge. They started researching fire watchtowers with wraparound decks, a model that made sense in terms of size and utility. Eventually, because they didn’t have expertise working with steel (especially for a project of this size), they enlisted a Halifax-based engineer, who had experience fabricating modules for offshore oil and gas rigs, to build the base and stairs.
The couple could have opted for skinnier legs, which would have been enough to stabilize the Tower, but they decided to go with larger support legs so that it would look extra-sturdy and renters would feel secure. After that, the couple had another crucial decision to make: the colour. The steel structure had to be sprayed in the shop ahead of the build, and Peter and Paula wouldn’t be able to see the colour until it arrived. “It was the most stressful decision we’ve made in our three projects,” says Peter. “We were mindful that the Tower should look warm and unpretentious, and at home in the surroundings.”
The couple spent almost nine days rolling out multiple coats of paint samples on plywood sheets, then inspecting them in both rain and sun to see how the colour responded. Finally, inspired by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, they selected a nostalgic brick red that Paula deemed, “Very Parks Canada.”
When it came to building the cabin itself, the couple—who have no formal design training—harkened back to their previous cabin builds and their shared experience working on boats. This time, they would affix a deck to the steel frame so they could build the cabin on top of it. “It was like building on a stage with railings all around,” says Peter.
They selected pine beadboard for the ceiling and reclaimed yellow pine bleacher boards for the floor. All the furniture and cabinetry are made from long-leaf yellow pine that was purchased from a cotton mill in Yarmouth, N.S., that was about to be torn down.
In keeping with the boat-hull vibe, all the furniture is built-in and built-up on platforms fixed to the floor, which conceal storage. “Space was so limited that standard furniture would have made it feel like a cramped bachelor apartment,” explains Peter. “Fixing the furniture and creating cubbies and nooks seemed more intentional.” The V-groove walls and window trim are coated in sage green linseed oil paint from Sweden, chosen for both its rich colour and chemical-free ingredients.
Settling on a layout for the 484-sq.-ft. cabin proved tough, especially when it came to the kitchen. The couple used wood offcuts to create mock-ups once the frame was built to test not only how the space felt, but how it worked. “We didn’t have six inches to spare,” says Peter. “It was so relentless that if you moved one thing, everything else shifted.”
In terms of the accessories and the finishes, “turn-of-the-century” was the look they hoped to achieve, thus the solid brass faucets and switch plate covers throughout—many of which were sourced at a ship recycling facility. Fun vintage touches, such as a “Please Help Smokey Prevent Forest Fires” sign and a functional cassette player, add personality to the small but airy space.
Peter and Paula love to spend a spontaneous night up in the treetops when the forecast calls for storms. “The Tower in the sunshine is amazing. But on a rainy, blustery day, it’s spectacular,” says Peter. “It feels really special to watch the weather come in.”
Writer and editor Beth Hitchcock lives in Nova Scotia. She also wrote “Some Colour from Down Under” in our August ’23 issue.
This story originally appeared in our June/July ’24 issue.
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