Miss Lady Slipper - Hub Island

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1998

Design & Builder: Steve Taylor
Engineer: William Strodel
Owner: Dr. and Mrs. Gault Farrell
Location: Hub Island

This small cottage invokes the steam yachts that plied the St. Lawrence at the turn of the last century (1900). She is located on Hub Island, a small half-acre island in US waters off the head of Wellesley Island .

The scheme developed from the idea of using fabric canopies to provide bright and festive areas, sheltered from the elements, on the exposed island.

While investigating the history of the island, we learned that there was a hotel on the island, The Hub House, in the early 1880’s. It had a liquor license and became a popular “watering hole” for the wayward among the Methodists at nearby Thousand Island Park . The hotel burned after only a few years in 1883, but sketches and photos from that time, show steams yachts moored along the island’s shores.

In the early 1900’s, the island became home to the Lindsey family boat building and machine shop. John Lindsey, Sr., came to the river to service steam yachts after leaving Herreshoff Boat Works in Bristol , Rhode Island. (Nathaniel Herreshoff is our most famous naval architect – designing 8 America ‘s Cup defenders and many of the fastest steam yachts). The Lindsay business survived three generations, then the island fell into disrepair.

A book, Pleasure Yachts of the Thousand Islands, by Gilbart Mercier, showed that many of these yachts enjoyed canvas canopies over their fore and aft decks where owners and guests would gather to view the scenery while cruising among the islands.

All of this information lead to Miss Lady’s Slipper paying graceful homage to the past with her “stack” housing flues for a wood stove and barbecue, her second story conceived as a “pilot house," and her canopied decks.

Note : This project won an Outstanding Achievement Award at the International Achievement Awards competition at the IFAI Expo 1998 in the Single Family Residential Awnings and Canopies category.