Fractional-ownership cottaging, like this development now under construction on the Rideau Lakes, may be the next big thing (Illustration supplied)

Think of life at the cottage, and you probably don't think of luxurious relaxation. Cottage life usually means lots of work. And who has ever experienced luxury at the cottage? Most cottages are quite primitive.

You probably need to be a multi-millionaire to afford a luxuriously appointed cottage by a lake, where the very rich spend a few weeks each year and where servants do all the chores and look after the place.

But shared ownership of a cottage can bring this utopia within financial reach of many people. The concept is simple: you own a share of the cottage with other people, and agree on a formula for dividing the time each spends there.

Such a sharing arrangement is easier said than done, of course, as many families have discovered after two or more people inherit the family cottage. It can lead to squabbles over who has the cottage when, who pays the expenses, who fixes the place, and what happens when one wants to sell and others don't.

The solution may be to own a share of a cottage in a professionally managed development, in which each owner pays a share of communal costs. Each owner may sell his or her share at any time.

It is called fractional cottage ownership, and one of the first projects of its type in this part of Canada is set to open this summer on Wolfe Lake, in the Rideau Lakes near the picturesque village of Westport, a 90-minute drive from Ottawa.

For less than $63,000, you can buy a 10-per-cent share of a luxurious, new, fully furnished, energy-efficient, 1,900-square-foot., year-round home beside a lake and backing on to a golf course.

That entitles you to use the home as your own for five one-week periods annually – one each in spring, summer, fall and winter, plus an additional floating week that will usually be taken in late fall or early spring.

On top of the purchase price, there are annual fees that developers say will be about $2,000 for each owner of a 10-per-cent share of a home. This includes almost anything you – or the developers – can think of. Included are: Property taxes and insurance, property management, lawn maintenance and snow removal, housecleaning, Internet access, satellite TV, heat, electricity and air conditioning, concierge services, barbecues, and use of a boat house (with party room) and a fleet of canoes and kayaks.

There will be 15 homes in the development, including – and this is a good sign – one that will be 100-per-cent owned by the developer, Elwin Derbyshire, and his family.

Mr. Derbyshire owns a large Canadian Tire store in Kingston. He and members of his family have been long-time cottagers around Westport.

As the owners are entitled to do, the Derbyshires' home will be a little more special than the rest. It is the only one that will be detached. The other 14 homes will be in a block of six townhomes directly on the lake and in two blocks of four backed by the nine-hole Evergreen Golf Course. The two blocks of four will have lake views.

The public golf course is not connected with the fractional-ownership cottage development, although there are family ties between the two businesses. The golf course is well known for its lush green grass, made that way with water pumped from Wolfe Lake.

The Derbyshires' development company, Clermont Venture Corporation, paid about $1 million for close to four acres of water-fronting, golf course-backing property. It's a dream location for anyone who wishes to divide cottage time between the lake and the golf course. The development is called Wolfe Springs Golf & Waterfront Resort.

The developers have been careful, in their promotional material, to stress differences between fractional ownership and time-shares.

Over the years, many consumers have become disenchanted with time-share vacations. Frequent complaints about time-shares around the world have included difficulty in getting a vacation booking when and where you want; high annual service fees; and difficulty selling a time-share when you no longer want it.

Among fractional ownership's advantages, according to Clermont, is that the buyer owns a share of the home outright, goes to the same home every time, and has control over annual fees. This control is exercised by fractional owners setting policy for management of their property. And there are no pressure- sales tactics with Clermont, the company says.

While each unit has only two bedrooms, there is a large, open living space on the ground floor, combining kitchen, living room and dining room. There are two gas fireplaces, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. Over each fireplace is a 42-inch flat-screen TV.

In addition to two separate shower rooms, there is a soaker bathtub in the master bedroom. It sits between the fireplace and the bay window. There is a super-private balcony off the master bedroom.

Each unit's large basement has plenty of room for all 10 partial owners to have a locker if they wish, to store personal belongings and items like CDs, pictures and favourite books.

Once the development is complete, there will be as many as 140 fractional owners – plus the Derbyshires, with their 10 shares. It is not known exactly how many part-owners there will be, since it's possible to buy more than one (five-week) share.

So far, the project is about one-third sold, and 11 of the 15 units are under construction. Of units currently on offer, prices range from $59,900 to $84,900 for a 10-per-cent (five-week) share. On top of these prices, there is five-per-cent GST (the other two weeks in the year are for maintenance).

Three factors account for the price variation: There is a premium for being directly on the lake. There is a premium for end units on each block, since these are slightly larger. And prices vary slightly depending on which summer week a buyer chooses. (The summer week will remain the same indefinitely. The other four weeks will rotate, according to an established formula, among the 10 fractional owners of each unit.)

Matthew Derbyshire, president of Clermont Venture Corporation, says: "We are selling lifestyle and luxury."

While the owners of each unit are collectively paying close to $600,000, or even more, for that unit, Mr. Derbyshire says an individual could not buy comparable luxury in such a lakefront setting at that price.

And, even if he or she could, who wants to tie up $600,000 in a vacation home that will be used just a few weeks a year?

By Michael Prentice

Special to the Ottawa Business Journal