There are a lot of shopping lists that begin this way: “A year-round cottage or home on deep, clean water twenty minutes from Kingston.” Most of them have been kicking around for years, so difficult is that sort of property to actually find, especially at a decent price. It is the Alba truffle of homes, the ghost in the machine. 1243 Retreat Lane is a wood-clad bungalow set high above the deep waters of Sydenham Lake, amid emerald forest and just a ten-minute paddle from the village. A vaulted living room in knotty pine, with a grand fireplace and granite hearth, gives onto a skydeck that runs full width of the home. The modern kitchen is open to the living room, which means that no one gets isolated in there. You’re part of the celebration. The principal bedroom looks over the lake, so it connects to that same elevated deck, and morning coffee never tasted so good. An office at the back of the house could well serve as another bedroom in a pinch. The basement rec room walks out at grade to the lawns and the stairs down to the dock. There is another bedroom down there, tucked dark and quiet into the hillside, and a second bathroom. Ductless heat and AC will keep you comfortable all year long, whether it’s boating or skating you’ve come for. And while the detached double garage provides loads of storage for everything you could ever need, it could be readily converted to a grand bunkie, if the idea is to invite crowds.