What’s the one thing on every Torontonian’s mind this time of year? Getting away. Anyone who had a vacation planned for this year likely had to cancel it due to the pandemic, leaving us all dreaming of the perfect escape. Well, interior design duo Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan have put those dreams on paper with their new book, Escapology: Modern Cabins, Cottages and Retreats.
The book features 24 unique escapes from right here in Canada to destinations in the U.S., Mexico, Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and South Africa. The book also features a couple of their own projects, such as a log cabin in Muskoka and their own cabin that they use as a rental. Readers can escape to them all from the com- fort of their couch through the book’s 236 pages.
“Escapology, to us, is the social science of ‘getting away’. In its essence, it’s all about retreating to a special place – a cottage, vacation home or cabin – to decompress. It’s all about shaking off the stresses of our fast spinning world to unwind in a peaceful spot,” said Colin and Justin in a press release about the new book.
The pair have specialized in designing vacation homes for the past decade and have fallen in love with the rural real estate landscape that they have been exposed to through this work.
“We adore the forests and lakes around which we navigate in Canada, and love the various cottages and cabins we visit whether filming our TV shows, remodelling vacation homes for clients or reporting upon cottage ‘innovation’ for newspapers and magazines, both nationally and internationally,” the pair said.
Along with a network of designers, architects and home owners, Colin and Justin put together a list of 100 potential cottages to include in the book. They then whittled the list down to 50 properties and eventually down to what they call the hot 24.
“Creating Escapology has been little short of joyous: as lovers of the rural idyll, it’s been our pleasure to curate such a stunning inventory of beautiful abodes to inspire and excite, we hope, in equal measure,” said Colin and Justin.
