Model: Wheelchair Friendly, 4-Person, 750-pound capacity, 3-Station Lift
Track: 85’ at 18°
Area: Dorset, ON
Year: 2020
The owner of this 110 year-old family cottage grew up at the cottage during the summers for many years. In 1988 she sustained a spinal cord injury and now requires a wheelchair for mobility. The cottage was modified for wheelchair accessibility but for the past 32 years she could not join family and friends at the dock and lake without being carried up and down the long stairway. The lift will change all that.
We started building a 2-Station lift running from the corner of the upper porch, parallel to the top sections of the existing staircase, and to the corner of the dock. As we were building it, however, it became clear to us and the owner that a middle station accessing the lawn level and fire pit made complete sense. So we added that middle station.
We set the track so their friend and carpenter, Guy Forward, could rebuild the corner of the dock and the lower flight of stairs to integrate the dock, stairs, and lift. He also modified the upper station to integrate it into a renovated front porch and built the middle station platform which is also a landing on the stairs and a path from the lift car to the fire pit. It’s always great to work with the owners and their contractors to completely integrate the lift into the cottage.
They call their cottage Hollinwood so the lift became the “Hollinwood Flyer” and the three stations are named Butterfly, Firefly, and Dragonfly.
An overview of the lift from the dock to the cottage. When the foliage on either side of the track that was flattened during construction recovers, the track will be camouflaged from the water.
Butterfly
Firefly, while the lift was still under construction. There is a fold-up seat at the back of the car for people to sit and room for a cooler tucked away underneath.
Dragonfly
YES!