This cottage is a touch of merry olde England on the shore of Lake Ontario. Decades ago, two friends, a sociology professor from Columbia and an artist, received permission to turn an unused carriage house into what now resembles an 11th-century manor house.

Over many years, they built a “moat” with loopholes around the building and carved the walls and beams. The fireplace has chains for the hounds, and there is an “altar” and other unique features.