When Tereasa Surratt agreed to buy and renovate her husband’s childhood summer camp, she did so reluctantly. By 2003, it had been neglected for 20 years, and its vibes were pretty Blair Witch-y. If they were going to revive the lodge and 10 outbuildings back into working order, they would have to do it on the cheap. “Our first filter for building and renovating is: what’s affordable?” she says. The resulting renovation is proof that good design can be done on a budget. Today, Camp Wandawega is a magical camp-style resort for kids and adults alike, two hours from Tereasa’s home in Chicago. Yes, loyal readers, we’ve broken our rule of covering only Canadian cottages. But the style secrets here are so good, we couldn’t resist sharing them.
Up in the trees
“This is my favourite place on the property,” says Tereasa of the Treehouse, one of a handful of newly built outbuildings at camp. The structure has three levels: a lower deck, an upper deck and indoor seating area, and two sleeping lofts on the top. “The windows are second-hand, and most of the wood is reclaimed.” Tereasa salvaged lumber from a barn on the property and a demolished bungalow near her home. The little cabin sits on four telephone posts set six feet into the ground on concrete pilings. “We built the place to be as sturdy as our city house.”
Tereasa dismantled a chandelier from Home Depot, saving the basic frame. She replaced the suspension rods with manila rope and the standard light bulbs with Edison bulbs. Then she wove in 25 shed antlers she had found on the property, securing them with fishing line and wire, and hung the piece from an old pulley.
Do lots with less
The outbuildings at Camp Wandawega include a mix of treehouses, canvas tents, and A-frames. “The common denominator is that they were all built or bought for $500 or less,” says Tereasa, who wrote a book on frugal design, Found, Free and Flea. One log cabin she found abandoned next to her grandmother’s place; she bought it for a few hundred dollars, hauled it to camp, and restored it with a new roof, sanded floors, fresh drywall, and new wiring. Tereasa’s DIY touches are all over the camp: wooden folding chairs upholstered with vintage laundry sacs, pillows sewn from old hides, and pendant lights made from mason jars and $10 light kits. “Design and taste have nothing to do with how much money you have to spend.”
The A-team
Tereasa sketched the concept for the mini A-frame on a napkin, and her neighbour helped build it in four days. They clad the interior in plywood and covered the roof in discounted cedar shingles from a local lumberyard. “There was a pallet of them just sitting there for decades that had never sold,” she says. “When we put them up, they were already greying. It was perfect.” Industrial-grade Plexiglas on the front wall capitalizes on the view of the lake. Guests can enter the A-frame from a door on either end and enjoy a little sundeck on the back. Inside, most of the floor space is taken up by two twin-size mattresses. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
This story originally appeared in our Summer ’17 issue.
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