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Caretaker’s Caretaker
![Susan, Carley, and Geo, July 2020 (Photo: Betsy Bacot)](https://i0.wp.com/www.rosslynredux.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_6351-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1)
Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves
From the outset, more than anything else, it was Rosslyn's boathouse that seduced us. As a boy I'd often spied this peninsular folly, and decades later it still beckoned. I honestly believe it's one of the most architecturally charming utility buildings in the Champlain Valley!
Technically a “dock house” built atop a pier that protrudes out into Lake Champlain, this Eastlake inspired structure was originally conceived and constructed as a seasonal residence for the engineer/captain of the Kestrel steam yacht. It is the only surviving example of residential Essex boathouses and one of few historic Lake Champlain boathouses. (Note: there are two commercial boathouses in Essex, the Old Dock Restaurant and the Essex Marina.)
In 2004 through 2006 when we finally purchased the property, Rosslyn’s boathouse—a pleasure-promising peninsula from our perspective—mesmerized Susan and me with her beguiling siren song… What if we abandoned all sensibility and dove into this fantasy?!?!