AS OF 2015, Josh Reyes had never been to a cottage. His family, who is from the Philippines, would go on camping trips, but it wasn’t until he started dating Mallory Rowan that he began cottaging each summer at her family’s place on Dickey Lake, Ont.
By 2020, he was a full-on convert. That summer, the couple were visiting a friend’s cottage on Lac Bataille in Val-Des-Monts, Que., when he realized just how much he loved the lake. “We were sitting on the dock, watching the sunset, and I looked at Mal and said, ‘One day, I’d love to have a place like this,’” says Josh. She agreed, and the dream began.
By late 2021, they had lined up a budget of $500,000. The couple wanted a waterfront property with…