A modern, modest-sized cottage nestled below a naturalized bluff and near the shoreline needed to be sensitively integrated within the opposing landscapes with privacy prioritized to the shared driveway and neighbouring property to the north. The cottage’s exterior corrugated cladding is incorporated into staggered privacy partitions that step up the slope and architecturally define an entry courtyard that is partially covered by a canopy. Beachfront plantings including aspen, juniper, shrub rose, and sand loving perennials and grasses fuse the courtyard and lakefront landscape together that spans the deck’s view of Lake Huron. With a large garage with a loft for family and guests located on top of the bluff, a steel staircase was determined to be the least intrusive structure that traverses the steep incline providing a convenient and accessible connection to the cottage.