Living on island time

Coming across it from a distance, the Leslies' home in Little Pond barely registers—just another picturesque barn in the windy fields of Prince Edward Island's eastern countryside.

But given another glance, the home begins to make its mark, establishing its character as a quirky family getaway that belies its utilitarian exterior. With one wall almost fully constructed from windows, and barn-like shutters a little too perfectly in line with each other, the home fits in while standing out, proving that it is, in fact, possible to make a second impression.

Standing at the bottom of a farmer's field just a few minutes walk from a red sandy beach and the ocean, the home covers 3,000 square feet, built on two lots bought in 2001 by Glenn and Doris Leslie, along with their daughter, Gaelyne, and her husband, Jonathan Huth. The multi-generational purchase by these Torontonians came as the result of a decades-long love affair with the area's escapist qualities. "It started on a road trip with a friend 14 years ago," Gaelyne explains. "I arrived in P.E.I. and just felt like I knew this place." Over the years she easily convinced her soon-to-be-husband, and then her parents, that this sleepy nook was what vacations are made of, and after years of rental units, the Leslies agreed a home was in order.