Trading Manhattan for Muskoka: How One NYC Family Rebuilt Their Canadian Dream, Board by Board

On a sweltering August weekend, while most New Yorkers sought out the nearest rooftop pool or Coney Island breeze, the Schipper family was knee-deep in sawdust some 400 miles north, transforming a crumbling Canadian boathouse into a lakeside retreat. Their story begins in Muskoka, Ontario—an enclave of pine forests and glacial lakes that’s become a summer haven for a growing number of New York families. For the Schippers, who split their time between a Brooklyn brownstone and the woods of Ontario, the dream nearly capsized last spring when the lakeside boathouse they’d purchased was declared structurally unsound.

Instead of surrendering to contractors and delays, the family’s adult children—each with full-time jobs back in the city—flew up with toolbelts slung over their shoulders. Over long weekends, they replaced warped beams and salvaged century-old windows, working from dawn until the sun slipped behind the pines. Their father, a retired architect, sketched out plans at a picnic table while their mother sourced vintage fixtures from Toronto’s Junction neighborhood.

The project has become a point of pride, and a rare chance for a bustling urban family to slow down and work side by side. “We’re used to squeezing dinner into half an hour on weekdays,” says daughter Lena, who usually spends her Thursdays in Midtown. “Now, we argue over the right wood stain and end up laughing until midnight.”

Scenes like these have become increasingly familiar as New Yorkers look beyond the Hamptons and Catskills for second homes. Muskoka’s lakes—once the domain of Canadian magnates—now host a steady stream of New York plates, especially in late August when the city’s heat feels relentless. For families like the Schippers, the journey north is less about luxury and more about reclaiming a sense of togetherness that’s tough to find in the city’s constant hum.

As Labor Day approaches, the Schippers’ boathouse stands nearly finished, its new cedar siding gleaming in the afternoon sun. Back in Brooklyn, their neighbors ask if they’re ready for a quiet fall. Lena just laughs: “After this, the subway at rush hour will feel like a vacation.”