Sturdy Timbers

STORY WALTER FRANCZYK | PHOTOS SANDY MACKAY

Featured in Muskoka, Parry Sound, Huntsville, & Haliburton - Spring 2025

The Discovery Dream Home built by Robin and Cody Mills has a bird’s eye view of Head Lake, the highest in a chain of five lakes that reaches from Haliburton to nearly Minden.

Robin and Cody Mills admit building their new home was a rush. “We decided to build a new house and get married in the same year,” Cody laughs.

They received their home occupancy permit just 11 months after breaking ground for construction. “Everything went absolutely perfect,” Cody says. “Very rarely does a build go like this where you have zero down time.”

Their timber frame house sits prominently atop the mountain that skirts Haliburton Village. Its high, sweeping view overlooks Head Lake, the forested shoreline and the highlands beyond. On their front deck, they can bask in glorious sunsets and see the approaching weather. “Watching the storms from up here is pretty cool,” Robin says. “You can see the storms coming,” says Cody. From the driveway, their home looks like a low-rise house with a sturdy timber-framed porch. Inside the front door, the ceiling soars, revealing a spectacular panorama through two-storey windows that form the front wall of the great room.

A Red Seal carpenter at age 21, Cody has been building homes for 20 years. He and his father Kevin own D&K Contracting, the company that built this five-bedroom house, designed and manufactured by Discovery Dream Homes. “I have built this design a few times and really had my heart set on building this one,” Cody says. “The lot is perfect for it. It’s sitting up on the edge of the cliff.”

For the past 15 years, Cody has been erecting homes by Discovery Dream Homes. “They have a superior product, in my opinion,” he says. “It’s a great team we’ve put together in 15 years with management, design staff and sales staff, so I thoroughly enjoy every project with them.” Building Discovery homes indulges his penchant for rugged construction. “I love timber frame and log. I’m naturally drawn to it and love it.”

The home’s galley-style kitchen, built by Dawson Cabinetworks Inc., faces the great room and the front wall of high windows supplied by Nortech. It contains two of Robin’s must-haves, a double oven and a large pullout pantry. “I’m the one that spends time in the kitchen, cooking all our meals,” she explains. “There are lots of little things in the kitchen I am attracted to.”

The couple enlisted interior designer Lauren Trueman of Compass Design Studio to help them plan this home. A graduate of Ryerson’s School of Interior Design, Lauren worked for design/build firms in Toronto and Haliburton before going solo and launching her own company. Her maxim is straightforward. “Make your house work for you so that you don’t have to work for your house. That’s what I try to achieve.”

With the home’s architectural work largely done by Discovery Dream Homes, Lauren helped design the kitchen cabinetry and the kitchen’s entry to the adjacent mudroom. She tweaked the main bathroom and laundry layout, as well as the main entrance stairway to provide a little more space and make it feel more open. She also helped choose light fixtures from Kohara + Co. and other suppliers, as well as stonework, plumbing fixtures, paint colours, furniture and accessories. She mixed lighter tones with wood elements. “I wanted to give it a lot of depth with different colours and layers.”

Lauren describes Robin’s style as light, lofty and a little unconventional. Lauren mingled Robin’s design taste with the rustic style that Cody loves. “It was blending these two styles as well as we could and just keeping it fun, comfortable and youthful,” she says.

This project was a departure from Lauren’s customary practice of plotting a road map to guide her design. “I’ve had a lot of success making all the decisions up front.” Working with Cody, however, involved more engagement and discussions as building progressed. “We were able to make some decisions on the fly and problemsolve together.”

The floors on the home’s main level living spaces are covered in elm, a durable hardwood, reclaimed from old buildings and milled in varied widths by Authentic Antiquewoods Ltd. Installed by Authentic owner Greg Kinaschuk, the elm was left unstained in its warm natural tone. That warmth extends to the three bedrooms that complete the main floor. Komi Creations Inc. furnished the front deck with ORI Muskoka chairs. Designed and manufactured in Ontario, these newly styled, all-weather chairs were inspired by Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Paradigm Electric Inc. installed cameras for the home’s security system. Along with Haliburton Electric, Paradigm wired the home and installed light fixtures, soffit and under-cabinet lighting.

The home’s lower floor contains a gym, two more bedrooms, a bathroom and a large bright family room with tall windows overlooking the terraced front yard. Robin Ball groomed the surrounding property, sourcing plants and flowers from Pine Reflections Gift & Garden Centre. Cody also applied his expertise outside. “I’m a firm believer in rusticated timber frame, which you can see on the exterior of this building.” Timbers were wire-brushed to ensure greater penetration of stain, making them more weather-resistant. “It’s a key thing for me,” he says. “The stain bonds better. You get longevity with the material and the stain.”

In the primary bedroom’s large en suite, Robin’s styling centred around twin Moroccan sinks with golden-hued faucets. Walls of the curbless, glass-sided shower are finished in softly-scalloped tile. Shower fixtures are also from Morocco. “I love the calmness of our bedroom and bathroom,” Robin says. “I wanted that spa-like feel. That was the vibe.”

Buoyed by their mutual success with this construction, Cody and Lauren continue collaborating on more projects. OH