Gilbert + Burke specializes in building luxury custom cottages and homes. G+B understands that nothing is more important than a home or cottage built to fit your family, your lifestyle, and your legacy. The company itself is built on a foundation of expert designers and builders, who have been entrusted with nearly as many dreams of family homes and cottages as Muskoka has lakes. Your vision is their realization, as Gilbert + Burke has been designing and building Canadian Dream properties for over 20 years, in the Muskoka, Kawartha, Simcoe, Parry Sound, and Southern Georgian Bay areas.
“Cottages give us the opportunity to really embrace the natural surroundings,” says Emily Johnston-Hartin of Gilbert + Burke. “As a result, we often will build the cottage to fit the environment—natural colours that blend with the surroundings to create a more serene, relaxed setting.”
The “Lake Simcoe Retreat” build exemplifies the commitment of Gilbert + Burke to its environs and the ultimate Canadian Dream. The extraordinary luxury cottage boasts a “mountain contemporary look, achieved by expansive use of BC stone cladding, Douglas fir timberframe, large windows and rooflines that are both spectacular and subtle.” The cottage is the realization of a post-pandemic world, where home, office, and retreat blend, and it’s the challenge of the builder to find the perfect intersection of spaces.
This cottage is completed by the types of flourishes and foundation that have come to define Cottage Country: coachhouse, boathouse, three-car garage, centralized plan with wings to promote both family and privacy, an ensuite for multigenerational families, spacious outdoor living with hot tub and kitchen, and, of course, expansive and singular lake views. Wrapped in indigenous materials and a contemporary, rustic style, the “Lake Simcoe Retreat” is a Canadian Dream come true.
But these are modern, responsible dreams. “Our clients want a house that performs at a higher level to reduce heating/cooling costs, and is more environmentally responsible,” adds Johnston-Hartin. “[One which] lowers their carbon footprint and provides a more efficient heating and cooling system.” To achieve a successful build, which implements local tradition with modern amenities (wetbar, home theatre, gym, sauna shower, golf simulator among them) while respecting conservancy and environment is a true science. The actualization of a build like the “Lake Simcoe Retreat” is the result of an incomparable commitment to client, concept, and community.
“As a company we are ever-evolving. We are always striving for better communication – be that with trades, clients, the information we provide, building packages we create,” says Johnston-Hartin. “We want to be transparent through every step of the process to ensure that everyone is on the same page.”
gilbertburke.ca | 1.866.846.9254
