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“Over the Water”
Robert & Joan Secrist, Middle Bayou
We bought our cottage in 1982 after
spending many summers renting cottages on
Hamlin
Lake.
Our understanding is that originally our cottage was know as,
“Over-the-Water” when it was constructed.
It was built about a century ago when the military was in the
area as a boat house with sleeping quarters above.
When we purchased our cottage it
was winter with snow on the ground.
The building was on a concrete slab.
It is now located on shore about ten feet from the water on
the north shore of the Middle Bayou.
The son of the man who sold it to us asked, “Does water still
run through it when it rains?”
Soon after he asked, it rained and the water did run through
the bedroom and living area.
We found that the window sills were rotten.
We contacted a man from Hart who agreed to raise the cottage
about four feet, put a proper foundation under it with a new wooden
floor. He did all the
work the next winter with aid of his two young children.
We then began rebuilding the interior of the
cottage ourselves. After
relocating the bathroom, we took our the inside walls and redesigned
the inside including replacing the ladder to the second floor with
an enclosed stairway. We
removed nine layers of roofing, replacing the sheeting and reroofing
with the help of our children and some young people from Blue Lake
Fine Arts Camp where two of our four children were counselors.
With the help of our family we completely gutted the building
relocating every room to make a three bedroom cottage with new
windows and doors instead of curtains throughout.
After residing the exterior, we had
a “L” shaped boat dock constructed, putting in a boat lift for our
ski boat. We now have a
comfortable summer cottage enjoyed at various times by ourselves,
our four children and our six grandchildren.
Our winter home is in Ohio.
We constantly marvel that there is no lake in
Ohio that is even mildly comparable to
Hamlin Lake.
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