Character of a Cottage

[John Raabe]

When kids draw their first house they often show a cottage with a steep roof, a door, a couple of windows and smoke coming out of the chimney.

This is an almost universal symbol of home — not the big sprawling suburban house that most kids are actually living in.

Interesting...

For an overview of one writers ideas on what makes a cottage, see this article from Fine Homebuilding.

http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00020.asp

There are other free articles from the magazine accessed by the article menu in the lower left panel of the screen.

What other characteristics of the cottage would you suggest? Can a cottage have vinyl siding and still have character?

[Daddymem]

Porches.
Window boxes.
Vinyl can ok if done right, just like wood can be bad if done wrong.  I have a project at a summer camp where they used vinyl that looks like shakes.  Totally not noticeable until you walk up on it that it is vinyl.

[Amanda_931]

It's a little urban house if it has vinyl siding.

(not at all sure about the house I lived in in Rayon City--greater Nashville area--that some fine person had covered the wood--maybe--clapboards with sand-textured paint counts a cottage or little urban house)

[quil]

A cottage to me has a more refined finish then a cabin. More paint and less wood. A cottage is small and quaint.

[bil2054]

As with so many things, the government has a legal description of a cottage.  In this instance the definition is taken from the FEMA website section on defining types of buildings for insurance purposes:
Cottage - 1 story, smaller type ranch with attic space above the 1st floor. Typically used as a seasonal home or a second dwelling on a property.
Cottages generally have a minimal or no foundation, instead resting on posts at the corners of the home.

Not very romantic, but pretty apt, eh?

[Bart_Cubbins]

The image that "cottage" brings to my mind is a smaller structure handbuilt by an often amateur builder with a limited budget. Due to the builder's limited skills, it will often be kept small and the construction kept simple. Beams and window units will be small enough for a couple people to muscle into place. The limited budget forces the builder to illiminate excess. No double height entrance, no "spa-like" bathroom. Finishing is kept simple. If an uninsulated three season structure, the inside finish might be as simple as a coat of paint applied to the studs and the back of the sheathing. The result has a feeling of honesty -- what you see is what you get -- and a complete lack of pretense.