Cottage Property Lines

If you are like me, you probably don't want a fence around your cottage property. I like the way our property runs off into the woods around the place, without an obvious line like a fence to mark the end of the land. In fact, I am not that fond of fences anywhere, including in the city, however I realize they are a necessary evil, and of course can be important if you have small children or a dog.

But in the country, other than to keep a horse or cow contained, I don't like fences. For one thing, I think kids at a cottage should experience the freedom of being able to roam, to get the feeling that there are wide open spaces and places. I also don't want to keep animals like deer from strolling by the cottage whenever they feel like it...although I have yet to see a fence that can keep a deer out of a garden.

But...I do think it's important to keep an eye on your property boundaries. You should have appropriate markers at all the points on your survey map. And I don't mean markers like, '250 feet northwest to a point marked by a maple tree' You should have a proper metal stake in the ground where that maple tree is...trees die, blow down or get cut down. It's a good idea, especially these days as lakefront properties become more valuable than ever, and because in the country, things have a way of changing....over time, property lines can shift, to the point where it can become a bit of a challenge to determine who owns exactly what. Usually it's no big deal, but....you never know who your neighbors might turn out to be....

If you haven't had your property surveyed, it might be worth investing in a good legal survey. You'll know for certain what you own, where your corners are, and so on. Our cottage lot has one of those deeds that talks about an "X" marked on a rock, and other vague, hard to find markers. It wasn't until an adjoining property was surveyed that I was able to have a starting point to go from that I was able to figure out our land.

Using the survey marker, a compass and a long survey measuring tape, and our deed, I recently discovered that the right-of-way road to our land is in the wrong place.
The road comes through our property, leaving the real right-of-way untouched. If I decide to spend some money on gravel and fill, I will gain quite a few feet of land, which belongs to me, and can be used for something other than a road. Without spending a little time with the deed, and the meausuring tape etc, I wouldn't have known.

Will I change the road? Probably not, but it's nice to know I can if I want to....