In 1961, Fran and her husband, Rollie, built a cottage on Go Home Lake. Go Home Lake was either named after Go Home Bay, which was located downstream from the lake, or after logging activities in the area. The Musquash River, located in Muskoka, was important for loggers. Musquash is an Abenaki word meaning "muskrat." A long time ago, loggers would send logs down the Musquash River to meet steamers at Go Home Lake. Then the logs would be transferred to mills around the Great Lakes. Once this was done, the loggers would "go home." The history of logging would soon repeat itself as Fran and Rollie built their own cottage on Go Home Lake.
Fran and Rollie's cottage was a Pan-Abode log cabin. Pan-Abode is a company that was started in 1952 by Aage Jensen. The company typically used cedar to build its log cabins. Fran's cottage was made from western red cedar. The logs for Fran's cottage were cut in British Columbia and then shipped by rail to MacTier, Ontario. Fran and Rollie went up to MacTier with a truck and loaded it log by log. Once they finished, they drove back to Go Home Lake. When they got there, Fran and Rollie had to put the logs on a barge they had rented. A barge is a flat-bottomed boat made for carrying loads. They travelled by barge back to their property, which was about seven miles away. They had to unload it log by log again and eventually take the barge back.
Fran and Rollie built the cabin on their own. They put the windows and rafters in and constructed and shingled the roof. It took them all summer, but they finished it. The cabin had a bathroom, but there was nothing in the bathroom at the time. There was a bedroom, a little kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. Over the years, they put in a toilet, shower, and sink. They put cupboards in the kitchen, and they had a stove and fridge. Rollie built double bunk beds in the bedroom.
Fran and Rollie had the cottage from 1961 to 1977. When Fran and Rollie divorced, Rollie kept the cottage and eventually sold it. Although the cottage was sold, Fran still has memories of stories about logging down the lake and her first Pan-Abode cabin.