Tuesday, February 26, 2008

What About Boathouses?


There is something special about an old boathouse hanging over the water's edge. Unfortunately, building codes have eliminated most of the ones that we used to see around our lakes up north. In fact, in a lot of areas it is even difficult to fix up the structures that are already there. However, a new Minnesota law from 2006 allows owners of these once common structures much more leniency in their restoration or replacement.

The photo above is from Shorline Construction on Lake Muskoka in Ontario, where grandiose boathouses have been a fixture on these expansive and scenery-filled waters for over a century. However, as this article states, even in an area where residents have looked fondly upon these architectural masterpieces, they know when they have too much of a good thing. I guess it's kind of like Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote in their moving song, The Last Resort..,"You call someplace paradise - kiss it goodbye."

It's true. The things that create the most awe are the same things that most of us want to have for ourselves, but we may not want others to have them. We want the best beaches, bigger houses...and yes, boathouses, but they are expensive and hard to come by. That is why laws have been created to protect us from these villains who can afford to get the things that we might not be able to.

Nearly all of us would love to have one of these beautiful structures on our shoreline...the perfect place to entertain guests at the water's edge. However, not many of us would want our next door neighbors to have them on their 100 foot lots - blocking our views of the lake and impacting our privacy. Many people also like the idea of old resorts with their sandy beaches and relaxing grounds, and a lot of us would like to own one for our personal use. But no one seems to want one next door to them.

So as our population increases and our lakes become more popular, we will continue to lose some of our ties to the past. Boathouses that once housed magnificent tour boats and yachts on our larger lakes will be mostly a memory. However, many counties do allow smaller accessory buildings near the water - generally lacking character and much more of an eyesore (in my opinion) than the larger showplaces of the past.

But if you are lucky enough to have one these water-based boathouses on your lake property, take good care of it. It will be very difficult to replace!

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