Wow, I reread this post to make sure it was o.k. and I see the words summer chalet and it sounds so high-end and fancy.

In Ontario we always used "cottage" to describe the summer vacation home. It seemed to apply to everything from the shacks to those fancy places (with their heat, electricity, running water and likely cable access, looking like something out of a "homes of the future" magazine) that I'd see across the lake from my grandparent's cottage.