Season of Growth

Savor the slow life in a lakeside cottage that was revamped with rustic charm and modern touches in just eight weeks.

- JESSIE YOUNT

It’s a quaint, lakeside town filled with design shops, distilleries, nurseries and wineries. And it’s a year-round retreat for the family, who frequent the farmers’ markets in the warmer months and bask in the warmth of their wood-burning stoves when it’s too cold to venture outdoors.

MAKING MEMORIES

Kate, her husband Ken, and their two girls, Lily and Myla, have already created a host of memories in the home, celebrating the country’s independence, painting pumpkins, and simply enjoying conversation with one another.

Not to mention the extensive home renovation that Kate pulled off in eight weeks.

She describes the project as the “biggest turnaround” in her professional career, pulling 12-hour days to ready the vintage-meets-modern cottage in time for the 4th of July weekend. She likes to joke that it was a full-on collaboration between Kate Marker Interiors and Ken Marker Exteriors; she tackled the interior design while her husband focused on outdoor renovations.

SERENDIPITOUS SHOWING

It was nearly a love-at-first-sight, or rather a love-at-first-scent, experience when Kate and Ken stumbled upon the 1920s cottage. She remarked that “it even smelled like a cottage” and felt that with a little sprucing up, it would be the perfect retreat for her family and others.