Nice to meet you! We're Rob and Melissa.
He's an investigative journalist and I'm an interior designer. We split our time between Toronto, Ontario and our sweet rental cottage in Nova Scotia.
Rob is from Halifax and I'm from a small farm town in Ontario and buying this property was really about that feeling of coming home. We wanted our children to experience the culture, the people and the back to basics simplicity that simply can't be had in the city.
I now manage a team of designers and architects for a major corporation in Canada, but my old life was as lead designer for more than 150 episodes of HGTV, most notable 10 seasons of Income Property. After years of scouting, planning, designing and setting up other properties as my professional focus, I turned my attention to our own.
We really tried to think of everything to create the ideal holiday for us and our guests. The polish of a hotel, the amenities of your own home and the whimsy that only a lovingly curated space can offer.
We undertook a significant renovation, made swifter by the time afforded us during COVID. As we put the finishing touches on the house, Rob and I looked out from the new oceanfront sun deck, clinked our Schooner beer and watched the Bluenose II sail by. A moment of gratitude and affirmation that this would be a special place made all the more so when we share it with guests.

Welcome to the Salty Cribb.

Rob is from Halifax and has always said Lunenburg is his favourite place in the world. We always came to Nova Scotia for holidays in August to visit Rob's family and take the kids for some salt water relaxation. We would do the classic, "some day" musing about owning a place of our own.
My old life had me scouting rental properties in need of renovations and I suppose you could say, I'm a bit of a blood hound for sniffing out the diamonds in the rough.
It was a mix of keen eyes, and blind luck that had me punch impossible parameters into MLS that lead us to what is now, The Salty Cribb. As Rob's mom said when she toured it for us at first, "it's uninhabitable". What she and the realtor didn't realize at the time is that for a property scout, that's music to my ears.
The house was in a bad state, simple neglect took it's tole, but the property......wow. Feltzen South is pure magic. Built 100+ years ago, this was a fishermen settlement. Simple salt box homes, modest at the time. Then, the ocean front homes were the undesirable with the rich living in town. Boy have the times changed.
What Rob and I saw was the most stunning open view of the ocean, the lights of Lunenburg at night across the bay, and nothing but forest behind. It was perfect.
The day we took possession I had a truck filled with every light fixture, stick of furniture and curtain needed. I treated the 1 week reno like one of the episodes I designed for HGTV. We of course have since fully updated the home top to bottom and most importantly turned our attention to the exterior adding a 40' sun deck, fire pit and string light lit dining area.
The beach out front is deeded to the house, a rare perk that just makes it all the more special. We have our own piece of the Atlantic!