Our Story
As longtime Muskoka cottagers, they understood something most designers learn from a distance: that the light here is different, the materials age differently, and the spaces that hold up best are the ones designed around the way Muskoka families actually live — noisy summers, quiet shoulder seasons, generations rotating through the same dock and dining table.
In 2000, they purchased a century-old building on Highway 141 in Rosseau — a village most people drive through on the way to somewhere else — and opened HillTop Interiors. The Carriage House became a showroom and studio at once. The practice grew from the ground up, project by project, referral by referral.
More than two decades later, it’s still the same building, the same family, and the same conviction: that the homes worth building are the ones that feel inevitable — like they couldn’t exist anywhere else, for anyone else.
Meet the Team
Lena
Lena listens. It’s what she’s known for, and it’s the skill that makes every project hers rather than someone else’s. She starts by asking about the family, not the furniture — how the space gets used, what matters to keep, what isn’t working, what you’d change if budget didn’t matter. The design comes from that conversation.
Her instinct for Muskoka materials — local stone, reclaimed timber, the particular warmth of white oak in lake light — is earned, not studied. Every project is led by Lena, from the first call to the final walk-through.
HillTop is a family practice. The knowledge, the standards, and the client relationships are all in the family.
We believe the best Muskoka interiors are led by place — by the water, the light, the particular materials that belong here and age well here. We believe in relationships that outlast the project. We believe in doing less, better: fewer furniture pieces that matter more, fewer decisions made in a hurry.
We don’t design to trend. We design to last.
The Showroom
The showroom is the heart of HillTop — furniture, lighting, accessories, and materials all under one roof in Rosseau. It’s where the design process gets tangible: where you sit in the chair, run your hand across the fabric, and see how the stone sample reads in Muskoka light.
Walk in with a question or a problem. Leave with a direction. No appointment needed.
Architecture & Interiors
Some projects begin with a floor plan. Some begin with a cleared lot on Lake Joseph and a family who knows they want something that will be there in a hundred years.
For those projects — new builds, significant additions, boathouses that are really second homes in disguise — HillTop offers access to a coordinated architectural practice that understands Muskoka the same way we do, with a shared instinct for traditional craft, natural materials, and buildings that belong to their site.
Interior design and architecture, coordinated from the start. Aligned material palettes, fewer handoff problems, and a designer who was in the room when the windows were being sized.
Tell us about your space. We’ll tell you honestly whether we’re the right fit.
No commitment. No pressure.