The Cooler Canvas

If I could design any house I would design a country cottage!

If I could design any house without any regards to budgets…I would design a country cottage.  Why?  I love the simplicity, the small size and the unique architecture of the style.  The Cotswold Cottage was derived from “cot” (cottage) and “wold” (wood) – cottage in a wood.

My favorite characteristic about the style is the simplicity, with a stone exterior, wood windows and doors, and a thatched roof with a prominent chimney.  Standing out is the unique sloped roof at each end of the gable ends that adds just enough to draw your eyes to the roof and then the pattern within the roof materials drags your eyes across the entire roof line.  The building makes you notice it and draws in your curiosity.

The cottage style also revolves around its asymmetrical design.  Why is this? Cottages were originally built on the rolling hills of West Central England.  With this location, came small and irregular-shaped rooms with a dominating chimney on the front side of the house as it was common to tuck the cottage onto the hillside.

Done correctly, the unique architectural accents can turn these simple cottages into something playful.  The Cotswold style is also known as the Hansel & Gretel cottage and the Storybook style amongst others.

As a little girl running through Knott’s Berry Farm and Disney Land, I had always loved the little fairy tale homes and wish I had one.  I believe this is where I first truly began my love of architecture.  So to this day, if I could design any house without any regards to budgets…I would design a country cottage.