What this is
The Lake Guest Cottage is a concept. It is an original idea we drew for guests at lake houses and second homes around the Finger Lakes. It is not a finished build and it is not an approved plan. A real version starts with your lot, your town’s rules and drawings from a licensed designer.
The lake end is all living space: a screened porch, then a wall of windows into the living room and kitchen under a vaulted ceiling. The bedroom and bath sit at the quiet back of the cottage, with a sleeping loft above them.
How it lives
Guests drop their gear in a long closet by the door, then spend the day between the porch and the living room. The bedroom is tucked behind the closet, away from the noise, with the bathroom next to it off a short hall.
The loft adds sleeping room for kids or extra guests without adding to the footprint. How you get up there is a code question. New York’s tiny-house rules, which allow ladders and compact stairs to a loft, apply only to homes of 400 square feet or less (2025 Residential Code of New York State, Appendix BB). This cottage is bigger than that, so plan on a stair your code office accepts. Ours doubles as built-in storage.
Year-round or summer only
Decide this first, because it changes the foundation. An insulated shallow foundation, which avoids digging down to the full frost line, may only be used for a building kept at a monthly average indoor temperature of at least 64°F, never for an unheated one (2025 Residential Code of New York State, sec. R403.3).
A cottage that sits closed and cold all winter needs footings below the frost line instead. Frost depth is set town by town. The Town of Ithaca’s table, for example, lists 48 inches (Town of Ithaca, 2025 code table). Water lines also need to stay below the frost line or be drained for the season.
What to check with your town
- Lake districts. Lakeshore zones can carry their own review. In the Town of Canandaigua, a house expansion with an accessory apartment generally skips site plan review (a board’s review of how a project sits on the lot), but not in the town’s Residential Lake District (Town of Canandaigua, sec. 220-64). The same town allows an accessory apartment in its Scenic Viewshed Overlay only where public sewer and water exist (Town of Canandaigua, Chapter 220).
- Septic and the loft. New York’s septic rules count an expansion attic as an extra bedroom when sizing a system (10 NYCRR Appendix 75-A.6). Ask your health department whether a sleeping loft counts the same way.
- How size is measured. Towns count lofts, porches and decks differently. Ask whether your town’s size cap and lot coverage rules include the loft or the screened porch.
- Renting it out. A cottage for your own guests is one thing; renting it by the night is another. Many towns require the owner to live on the property and set their own short-term rental rules, so check before you plan around paid guests.
Look up your area on the New York rules page, or start with the property checker.
What moves the price
- Year-round heat or summer-only use, which changes the foundation
- Lake-lot slopes, setbacks and site plan review
- Septic capacity, and whether the loft counts as a bedroom
- Size and quality of the window wall
What to check in each municipality
A first comparison with the codes we’ve read. A listed restriction identifies a conflict with this concept. Other results require local confirmation; missing research does not mean a ban or approval. Your zoning district, your lot and the municipality’s review still decide.
| Municipality | Screen | Size rule | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Clarkson | Below the 600 sq ft one-bedroom minimum | No more than 30% of the main home's living space (unit minimums 450 sq ft efficiency, 600 sq ft one-bedroom) | October 4, 2026 |
| Village of Fairport | Detached restriction: Detached ADUs are prohibited | 650 sq ft | October 4, 2026 |
| Town of Penfield | Detached units are excluded from the researched in-law route | No more than 30% of the total area of the residence | October 4, 2026 |
| Village of Pittsford | Only within this code’s size limits; check them | No square-foot cap; house-size and structure-size tests apply | October 4, 2026 |
| Town of Canandaigua | Requires local confirmation of the district, size rule and approvals | No separate cap; the district's bulk and area rules for a single-family home apply | October 3, 2026 |
| Town of East Bloomfield | Family members only, so it can’t be rented, and a detached unit must be removed when family stops using it. Only within this code’s size limits; check them | Detached: 500 to 850 sq ft gross floor area. In-law apartment: no size cap found | October 3, 2026 |
| Town of Perinton | Detached restriction: Living in accessory buildings is barred in the covered residential districts | Not applicable | September 16, 2026 |
| City of Rochester | Rule change under study; confirm the current route with the municipality | Conversion: building at least 1,500 sq ft and lot at least 6,000 sq ft, plus unit minimums | October 4, 2026 |