When police detective Dave Kozak first met graphic designer Scott McFadyen a couple of years ago at a casual restaurant in Toronto’s Little Italy, he quickly sized up his best angle for seduction: “I just bought a cottage a few months ago,” Mr. Kozak told Mr. McFadyen. “We can go up there next week.”

Mr. McFadyen, generally a cautious individual, decided to tame his suspicions about a man he barely knew and take a chance on a future love conveniently located near a carpet of trilliums and sandy shoreline. On that first visit, the three-bedroom cottage on the Bruce Peninsula was convincing, even in the dead of winter. And now Mr. Kozak, Mr. McFadyen and the cottage spend many happy weekends together — swimming, hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing and lounging. They say it’s a great way to get out of the city and away from the small quarters they rent in Toronto’s High Park neighbourhood. “I could see having a cottage forever,” Mr. Kozak says.

Kelly Jackson, a political aide at Queen’s Park, and her boyfriend David Alkerton, a teacher at Seneca College, are similarly attracted to cottage living. They recently moved into a spacious one-bedroom apartment in Toronto’s Seaton Village neighbourhood. Dating for almost two years, and happily settled on a long-term commitment, the two are now looking to intertwine their future and fortunes. But they’re not spending their Saturdays touring condos downtown; instead, they’ve decided that they can get more bang for their buck — and more mosquito bites on their weekends — by leapfrogging over the purchase of a primary home and straight to the purchase of a second.

There are a lot of good economic arguments for ownership of your primary residence, but they’re not necessarily related to quality of life. Skipping over a primary residence and scooping up a vacation property, particularly for city dwellers who crave a little quiet, can offer an oasis just a few hours away — and it’s a financial trade-off some are more than willing to make.

When Mr. Kozak first bought his cottage, he was renting in Toronto after selling a house in Hamilton. He went to camp on the Bruce Peninsula, a short drive from his current cottage, and he had fond memories and old friends tying him to the community. “I realized I could have a little place in the city and what I really wanted up north,” he says.

Mr. Kozak and Mr. McFadyen go up to their cottage at least one weekend a month, and frequently entertain guests, sitting around a campfire and taking the canoes out late at night to stargaze. “Some weekends, no one comes up and I’m kind of relieved,” Mr. McFadyen says. “I can just drink coffee and read and [sweep] the deck.” While Mr. McFadyen loves to relax, Mr. Kozak always has one eye on prospective projects. His current to-do list includes a kitchen expansion, the building of a screened-in porch, and the conversion of a small shed into a sauna. “It’s like anyone who owns a home,” he says. “It’s constant.”

Despite the upkeep, the arguments for owning a cottage are obvious, especially for city dwellers. It’s a vacation at your convenience, the chance to stretch your legs or jump off a dock into ice-cold lake water. It’s also an excuse for the adult slumber party, a chance to have friends stay for the weekend and roast s’mores and get out the guitar and drink beer while sitting in deck chairs.

Affordable rents are still possible to find downtown, especially for dual-income households, so one can build equity in the country and still rent a smaller place for weekdays. “The fact that I’m paying rent doesn’t bother me so much because I know that I’m making equity in that other property that I own,” Mr. Kozak says.

Ms. Jackson and Mr. Alkerton are currently looking to buy in the areas around Belleville and Peterborough, and they’re finding that their budget is fairly prohibitive. But they’re still convinced that they’ll get more long-term value by buying in the country. “You’re looking at, at least, $250,000 for a small one bedroom downtown,” says Jackson. “If we can get waterfront property and a three-bedroom cottage for that, isn’t that a better deal?” Ms. Jackson and Mr. Alkerton also emphasize the importance of location for their downtown address, and they can’t currently afford to buy anything suitable in their ideal neighbourhood. “I’m not going to buy in the suburbs just to own something,” Ms. Jackson says.

Mr. Alkerton and Ms. Jackson are still testing the waters, but they’re attracted to the permanent arrangement of a small, central place in the city and some space to stretch out in the country. “I would have to do more long-term math calculations to really answer that question; but my gut reaction isn’t that renting [downtown] forever is a terrible idea,” Ms. Jackson says. Mr. Alkerton’s parents rented cottages for the family when he was a kid, and he’s enthusiastic about having his own slice of country life. “It’s so much fun, and I would love to have that on a regular basis,” he says.

Mr. McFadyen and Mr. Kozak know they could sell the cottage and build equity in a more-expensive downtown property. But they’re not persuaded. “I have 25 acres and three bedrooms in a beautiful area and I couldn’t get anything like that downtown,” says Mr. Kozak. “I have a place to live in Toronto that I like a lot, but I have something amazing in the country. It’s the best of both worlds.”