Cottages: The Comfort Food of Architecture
Northern California’s Wine Country is heavily and magically populated with the most lovely array of tiny cottages. There are entire towns where every home sings a snug, cozy welcome, and they are omnipresent in the surrounding countryside. I’ll be driving down winding roads bordered by lush vineyards and I’ll pass a cottage so charming that I have to slam on my brakes, go into full reverse and jump out of the car to stare and covet.
Honestly, I have made it clear to God that I want my home in heaven to be a cottage. With a red door. Or maybe sage green.
While the term “cottage” has been used to describe everything from a contemporary faux chateau to the massive seaside sanctums of the uberrich, Merriam-Webster, quite pedantically, calls it “a usually small frame one-family house.” It is, however, so much more than that.
If you were to peruse my ideabook titled “Becky’s faves,” this is the first picture you would see. It absolutely exemplifies cottage style. A wide and welcoming porch stretches its arms toward the street, urging you to come in and visit.
If that porch is surrounded by flowers in rampant bloom, so much the better.
Weathered shingles, wood-mullioned windows …
… and screen doors are appealing elements of cottage style.
But so is stone …
… and so is half timbering. A cottage has more to do with size and welcome than with a single look.
A snug front door is essential to a cottage. It might have a heartwarming shape …
… or a splash of color. But it repeats the invitation to come and get acquainted.
Does this row of whitewashed cottages call to you like it does to me? I imagine gulls screeching overhead and fishing boats gently rocking in the harbor.
Back to porches: Do you see a theme here?
You’re right — it’s the rocking chairs, which suggest a more leisurely pace, a less frenetic lifestyle, a neighborly attitude. The essence of a cottage — like comfort food — is that it nourishes and feeds the soul.
Even if the style is unexpected! We are used to cottages in a Western context, but the same instinct is pervasive worldwide, as in this fabulous Japanese-style cottage. Even the curvature of the path beckons us to come closer.
But the appeal of cottages is not limited to style and charm. For instance, this alluring grouping of cottages is a compelling solution for housing elderly parents or extended family.
Next time we’ll explore the ecological, economic and social benefits of cottage living.
More: So Your Style Is: Cottage
