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A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide some form of service to the manorial lord.Daniel D. McGarry, ''Medieval history and civilization'' (1976) p 242 However, in time cottage just became the general term for a small house. In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cosy

dwelling In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...

, typically in a rural or semi-rural location and not necessarily in England. The

cottage orné Cottage orné () dates back to a movement of "rustic" stylised cottages of the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the Romantic movement, when some sought to discover a more natural way of living as opposed to the formality of the preceding ...

, often quite large and grand residences built by the nobility, dates back to a movement of "rustic" stylised cottages of the late 18th and early 19th century during the Romantic movement. In

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

the term now denotes a small dwelling of traditional build, although it can also be applied to modern construction designed to resemble traditional houses (" mock cottages"). Cottages may be detached houses, or

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

, such as those built to house workers in mining villages. The

tied accommodation In the United Kingdom, a tied cottage is typically a dwelling owned by an employer that is rented to an employee: if the employee leaves their job they may have to vacate the property; in this way the employee is tied to their employer. While the ...

provided to farm workers was usually a cottage, see

cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Ho ...

. In England the term

holiday cottage A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottag ...

now denotes a specialised form of residential let property, attracting various tax benefits to the owner. The

exists in many cultures under different names. In

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

, "cottage" is one term for such holiday homes, although they may also be called a "cabin", "

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-suppo ...

", or even "camp". In Australia, the term "cabin" is common, cottage usually referring to a smaller pre-modern period dwelling. In certain countries (e.g. Nordics,

Baltics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

, and Russia) the term "cottage" has local synonyms: In Finnish ''mökki'', in Estonian ''suvila'', in Latvian ''vasarnīca'', in Livonian sõvvõkuodā, in Swedish ''stuga'', in Norwegian ''hytte'' (from the German word ''Hütte''), in Czech or Slovak ''chata'' or ''chalupa'', in Russian ''дача'' (''

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

'', which can refer to a vacation/summer home, often located near a body of water). In places such as Canada, "cottage" carries no connotations of size (compare with

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

or hermitage).

Etymology

The word ''cottage'' (

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

''cotagium'') derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''cot, cote'' "hut" and

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

''cot'' "hut, cottage", from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''kot'' "hut" and related to

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...

''kotten'' (cottage, hut). Examples of this may be found in 15th century manor court rolls. The house of the cottage bore the Latin name: "''domus''", while the barn of the cottage was termed "''grangia''".

England

Medieval

The word originally referred to a humble rural detached dwelling of a '' cotter'', a semi-independent resident of a manor who had certain residential rights from the

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

, and who in the social hierarchy was a grade above the slave (mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086), who had no right of tenure and worked full-time to the orders of the lord. In the Domesday Book, they were referred to as ''Coterelli''. The cottage had a small amount of surrounding agricultural land, perhaps 2 or three acres, from which the resident gained his livelihood and sustenance. It was defined by its function of housing a cotter, rather than by its form, which varied, but it was certainly small and cheaply built and purely functional, with no non-essential architectural flourishes. It would have been built from the cheapest locally available materials and in the local style, thus in wheat-growing areas, it would be roofed in thatch, and in slate-rich locations, such as Cornwall, slates would be used for roofing. In stone-rich areas, its walls would be built of rubble stone, and in other areas, such as Devon, was commonly built from cob.

Industrial Revolution

Miners Cottages, Pit Village, Beamish Museum, 5 September 2013

In England from about the 18th century onwards, the development of industry led to the development of

weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

' cottages and

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

' cottages.

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' The Condition of the Working Class in England ''The Condition of the Working Class in England'' (german: Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England) is an 1845 book by the German philosopher Friedrich Engels, a study of the industrial working class in Victorian England. Engels' first book, ...

''.

Enclosures Act

Over the years various English

Acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament ...

removed the right of the cottager to hold land. According to

John Lawrence Hammond John Lawrence Le Breton Hammond (18 July 1872 – 7 April 1949) was a British journalist and writer on social history and politics. A number of his best-known works were jointly written with his wife, Barbara Hammond (née Bradby, 1873–1961). ...

and

Barbara Hammond Lucy Barbara Hammond (née Bradby, 1873–1961) was an English social historian who researched and wrote many influential books with her husband, John Lawrence Hammond, including the ''Labourer'' trilogy about the impact of enclosure and the I ...

in their book ''The Village Labourer'', before the

Enclosures Act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

the cottager was a farm labourer with land, and after the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer without land.

Legal definition

In the law of England and Wales the definition of a cottage is "a small house or habitation without land". However, originally under an Elizabethan statute, the cottage had to be built with at least of land.

Wales

The Ugly House near Betws-Y-Coed - geograph

The Welsh ''

Tŷ unnos Tŷ unnos ( pl.: ''tai unnos''; English: ''one night house'', also ''hafodunnos'') is an old Welsh tradition that has parallels in other folk traditions in other areas of the British Isles. It was believed by some that if a person could build a ...

'' or "house in a night", was built by squatters on a plot of land defined by the throw of an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

from each corner of the property. In

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

a cottage is known as ''bwthyn'' and its inhabitant ''preswlydd''. pp. 136, 178

Scotland

In Scotland the equivalent to cottager would be the crofter and the term for the building and its land would be

croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

Ireland

Irish cottages, known as ga, teachín, were historically the homes of farmworkers and labourers, but in recent years the term has assumed a romantic connotation especially when referring to cottages with

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

ed roofs ( ga, teach ceann tuí). These thatched cottages were once to be seen all over Ireland, but most have become dilapidated due to newer and modern developments. However, there has been a recent revival of restoring these old cottages, with people wanting a more traditional home. Today, thatched cottages are now mostly built for the tourist industry and many can be let out as accommodation.

Modern usage in Britain and Ireland

In popular modern culture, the term ''cottage'' is used in a more general and romantic context and can date from any era but the term is usually applied to pre-modern dwellings. Older, pre-Victorian cottages tend to have restricted height, and often have construction timber exposed, sometimes intruding into the living space. Modern renovations of such dwellings often seek to re-expose timber purlins, rafters, posts, etc. which have been covered, in an attempt to establish perceived historical authenticity. Older cottages are typically modest, often semi-detached or terraced, with only four basic rooms ("two up, two down"), although subsequent modifications can create more spacious accommodation. A labourer's or fisherman's one-roomed house, often attached to a larger property, is a particular type of cottage and is called a ''penty''. The term cottage has also been used for a larger house that is practical rather than pretentious: see Chawton Cottage.

Outside Britain and Ireland

North America

Although the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' states that the term ''cottage'' is used in North America to represent "a summer residence (often on a large and sumptuous scale) at a watering-place or a health or pleasure resort," most Americans expect a cottage, particularly a summer cottage, to be a relatively small, possibly unfinished house. Various editions of the quintessentially American ''

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

'' define it as "a small house; any modest country or suburban dwelling," (fifth edition) with the eleventh edition describing even a vacation cottage as "a usu. small house for vacation use." In North America, most buildings known as cottages are used for weekend or summer getaways by city dwellers. Cottage owners often rent their properties to tourists as a source of revenue. In

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint John ( da, Sankt Jan) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Saint John () is the smallest of the thre ...

, most cottages are vacation rentals used for weekend or summer getaways. In Michigan, a cottage normally means a summer residence farther north near or on a lake. An example of a colonial era cottage in North America is a small

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

house called

Boelson Cottage Boelson Cottage is a Dutch and Swedish-style colonial era cottage located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

—one of the oldest extant houses within the city (c.1678–84). In the jargon of

English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

's real-estate industry, a cottage is any two-storey house, as opposed to a

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

. However, "cottages" in Eastern Canada are generally located next to lakes, rivers, or the ocean in forested areas. They are used as a place to spend holidays with friends and family; common activities include swimming, canoeing, waterskiing, fishing,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

. There are also many well-known

summer colonies The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean or mountains of New England or the Great Lakes. In Canada, the term cottage countr ...

. Cottage living is one of the most popular tourist draws in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, parts of which have come to be known as

cottage country Cottage country is a common name in Ontario, New Brunswick, and other regions of Canada for areas that are popular locations for recreation, recreational properties such as cottages and summer homes. Cottage country is often socially, culturally, ...

. This term typically refers to the north and south shores of

Georgian Bay, Ontario The Township of Georgian Bay is an area municipality of the District Municipality of Muskoka, in south-central Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Severn River, where it empties into the eponymous Georgian Bay. The municipal offices are at Por ...

;

Muskoka, Ontario The District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka or Muskoka, is a regional municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. Muskoka extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching ...

; Haliburton, Ontario; and the

Kawartha Lakes, Ontario The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is mostl ...

; but has also been used to describe several other Canadian regions. The practice of renting cottages has become widespread in these regions, especially with rising property taxes for waterfront property. What Eastern Canadians refer to as "cottages" (seasonal-use dwellings), are generally referred to as "cabins" in most of North America. This is most notable in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and the Western United States, and Western Canada. In much of

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, and

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

, a summer house near a body of water is known as a camp. In the 1960s and 1970s, the

A-Frame house An A-frame house or other A-frame building is an architectural house or building style featuring steeply-angled sides (roofline) that usually begin at or near the foundation line, and meet at the top in the shape of the letter A. An A-frame ...

became a popular cottage style in North America. In the 1920s and 30s many

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

s were built in the style of Old World cottages. Comprising about a third of the stations built in the United States in those years, cottage-patterned facilities evoked a picturesque homeyness and were easier to gain approval for than the more stylized or attention-grabbing designs also commonly used at the dawn of the automobile era.

Australia

In Australia, the term "cabin" or "shack" is commonly used for a small dwelling, the former more often for a place of residence or tourist accommodation and the latter for a simple recreational shelter, typically not continuously occupied. The term cottage usually refers to historic smaller residential buildings, commonly stone or brick, typically from Georgian or Victorian. More recently, cabins are often also referred to

tiny houses The tiny-house movement (also known as the small house movement) is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less."Ford, Jasmine, and Lilia Gomz-Lanier. Family an ...

, however, cabins are built at a permanent site on proper footings, while the term tiny house often implies that the dwelling is built on a trailer platform and can be relocated.

Nordic countries

Finland

''Statistics Finland'' defines a cottage ( fi, mökki,

Finland Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...

: ''stuga'' or ''villa'') as "a residential building that is used as a holiday or free-time dwelling and is permanently constructed or erected on its site". Finnish cottages are traditionally built of logs but other wood constructions have become common. They are usually situated close to water and almost all have a

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

. There are 474,277 cottages in Finland (2005), a country with 187,888 lakes and 179,584 islands, including rental

s owned by hospitality companies but excluding holiday villages and buildings on garden allotments. Reports have 4,172 new cottages built in 2005. Most cottages are situated in the municipalities of

Kuusamo Kuusamo ( sme, Guossán; smn, Kuáccám) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...

(6,196 cottages on 1 January 2006),

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

(5,194), Ekenäs (Tammisaari – 5,053),

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...

(4,649), and

Mäntyharju Mäntyharju (, literally 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The coastline is almost . The population density ...

(4,630).

Sweden

The formal Swedish term for cottages is ''fritidshus'' (vacation house) or ''stuga'', of which there are 680.000 in Sweden (2007). According to Statistics Sweden, about 50% of the Swedish population has access to a vacation house. In everyday talk, Swedes refer to their cottages as ''lantstället'' (the country house) or ''stugan'' (the cottage). Most vacation houses in Sweden are to be found along the coasts and around the major cities. Prices vary a lot depending on location; a modern seaside house near Stockholm may cost 100 times as much as a simple cottage in the inner regions of northern Sweden. Until the end of World War II, only a small wealthy Swedish elite could afford vacation houses—often both a large seaside house and a hunting cabin up north. During the rapid urbanisation in the 1950s and 1960s, many families were able to retain their old farmhouses, village cottages, and fisherman cabins and convert them into vacation houses. In addition, economic growth made it possible even for low-income families to buy small lots in the countryside where they could erect simple houses. Former vacation houses near the large cities have gradually been converted into permanent homes as a result of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. The traditional Swedish cottage is a simple paneled house made of wood and painted in

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. They may contain 1–3 small bedrooms and also a small bathroom. In the combined kitchen and living room (''storstuga'') there is usually a fireplace. Today, many cottages have been extended with "outdoor rooms" (semi-heated external rooms with glass walls and a thin roof) and large wood terraces. As a result of the

friggebod In Sweden, a friggebod is a small house which can be built without any planning permission on a land lot with a single-family or a duplex house. It is named after Birgit Friggebo, who was the Minister for Housing in 1979 when the new type of b ...

reform in 1979, many cottage owners have built additional guesthouses on their lots.

Norway

The formal Norwegian term for cottages is ''

hytte A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

'' or ''fritidsbolig'' (vacation house). In Norway, cabins are often built near leisure activities such as hunting, fishing, and outdoor life / outdoor sports, or in areas with particularly beautiful nature, such as in the woods, in the mountains, or by the sea. In the most attractive areas, it has become increasingly common with regulated fields where the cabins are very close together, in so-called "cabin villages". Chained cabins and holiday apartments are also being built here, similar to a normal city.

Russia

The first known "cottages" were built in Russia in the 19th century, when British culture was popular. Today many large cities in Russia are surrounded by cottage villages. So it is legitimate to talk about the appearance of the term "Russian cottage" - a house, comparable in size to a British villa or even a mansion, and includes a corresponding piece of land.Харит М.Д. "Новый век российской усадьбы". Популярная энциклопедия архитектуры. т.1. 2001 г., Изд. АСТ (издательство), Москва,

South Africa

Verloren Vlei Heritage Village, Elands Bay 3

Much like in the rest of the world cottages in South Africa housed agricultural workers and their friends and families. A number of cottages were also constructed for fishermen along the West and South Coasts of the country throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Most cottages are single-storey two to four-roomed structures sometimes with an attic for storing supplies. Most cottages in the Western Cape area of South Africa have

thatched roofs Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk o ...

and stone or

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

walls which were traditionally

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used ...

ed. A large number of the remaining cottages in the country are listed heritage sites.

Notable cottages

Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, dedicated to the life of Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, "one of the great Scots of the 19th century.". The museum ...

, Fife, Scotland - weaver's cottage, birthplace of philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

Anne Hathaway's Cottage Anne Hathaway's Cottage is a twelve-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, lived as a child in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire, England, about west of Stratford-upon-Avon. Spacious, and with several bedroom ...

, Warwickshire, England - childhood home of

Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare) Anne Hathaway (1556 – 6 August 1623) was the wife of William Shakespeare, an English poet, playwright and actor. They were married in 1582, when Hathaway was 26 years old and Shakespeare was 18. She outlived her husband by seven years. V ...

Arthur Cottage Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, County Antrim, Northern Ireland - the ancestral home of US President

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A ...

Bishop Asbury Cottage Bishop Asbury Cottage () is a 17th-century cottage on Newton Road, Great Barr, England, known for being the boyhood home of Francis Asbury (1745 – 1816), one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church (now The United Methodist ...

, Staffordshire, England - boyhood home of Methodist Episcopal Bishop

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...

Bron-Yr-Aur Bron-Yr-Aur (Welsh for "breast of the gold", or by extension, "hill of the gold" or "golden hill"; ) is a privately owned 18th-century cottage, on the outskirts of Machynlleth, in Montgomeryshire, mid-Wales, best known for its association with ...

, Powys, Wales - holiday cottage used by rock band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Burns Cottage Burns Cottage, the first home of Robert Burns is located in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was built by his father, William Burness in 1757. Burns, Scotland's national poet, was born there on 25 January 1759. It is a two-roomed clay and ...

, Ayrshire, Scotland - home of poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

Cook's Cottage Cooks' Cottage, previously known as Captain Cook's Cottage, is located in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Australia. The cottage was constructed in 1755 in the English village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, by the parents of Captain James Coo ...

, Melbourne, Australia - birthplace of

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, taken from Yorkshire to Victoria in 1934 *

Dove Cottage Dove Cottage is a house on the edge of Grasmere in the Lake District of England. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth from December 1799 to May 1808, where they spent over eight years of ...

, Cumbria, England - home of the poet

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

and his sister

Dorothy Wordsworth Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth (25 December 1771 – 25 January 1855) was an English author, poet, and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close all their adult lives. Dorothy Wordsworth had no a ...

Elgar Birthplace Museum The Firs in Broadheath, Worcestershire, Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire, England was the birthplace of Edward Elgar. The cottage now houses a museum administered by the National Trust. Edward Elgar was born at the house on 2 June 1857, and lived ...

, Worcestershire, England - cottage birthplace of composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Ernest Hemingway Cottage The Ernest Hemingway Cottage, also known as Windemere, was the boyhood summer home of author Ernest Hemingway, on Walloon Lake in Michigan. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. and History In about 1898, Dr. Clarence He ...

, Michigan, USA - boyhood summer home of author

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is a unit of the National Park System in West Branch, Iowa, United States. The buildings and grounds are managed by the National Park Service to commemorate the life of Herbert Hoover, the 31st president ...

, Iowa, USA - cottage birthplace of President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

Hill Top, Cumbria Hill Top is a 17th-century house in Near Sawrey near Hawkshead, in the English county of Cumbria. It is an example of Lakeland vernacular architecture with random stone walls and slate roof. The house was once the home of children's author and ill ...

, England - home of children's author

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

Ivy Green Ivy Green is a historic house museum at 300 West North Commons in Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States. Built in 1820, it was the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller (1880–1968), who became well-known after overcoming deaf-blind condit ...

, Alabama, USA - birthplace of deaf-blind author Helen Keller *

La Trobe's Cottage La Trobe's Cottage is a historic cottage in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1839 by the first Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, Charles La Trobe, and his family. Construction and significance The cottage w ...

, Melbourne, Australia - home of

Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...

, founder of the colony of Victoria *

Michael Collins Birthplace The Michael Collins Birthplace is a cottage and National Monument located in Kilkerranmore, County Cork, Ireland. It was the birthplace of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins (1890–1922). Location The Michael Collins Birthplace is l ...

, County Cork, Ireland - cottage birthplace of Irish revolutionary leader

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

Oakhurst Cottage Oakhurst Cottage is a tiny 16th or 17th-century cottage in Hambledon, Surrey, in the United Kingdom. It is a Grade II listed building. The cottage was given to the National Trust in 1954, and occupied until 1983. It has been restored to illu ...

, Surrey, England - preserved 17th century agricultural worker's cottage * Swiss Cottage, Cahir, County Tipperary, Ireland - ornamental cottage designed by John Nash *

Thomas Hardy's Cottage Thomas Hardy's Cottage, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, is a small cob and thatch building that is the birthplace of the English author Thomas Hardy. He was born there in 1840 and lived in the cottage until he was aged 34—during which time he ...

, Dorset, England - home of author

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

Willy Lott's Cottage Willy Lott's Cottage is a house in Flatford, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England which appears in several paintings by John Constable, notably ''The Hay Wain''. The property is Grade I listed building, listed to reflect its importance "as part o ...

, Suffolk, England - featured in several paintings by

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

York Cottage York Cottage is a house in the grounds of Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. History The cottage was originally called the Bachelor's Cottage, and built as an overflow residence for Sandringham House. In 1893, it was given by the future ...

, Norfolk, England - favourite home of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

and

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

Gallery

Thatched cottages in England

File:Church Cottage, Stretton Grandison - geograph.org.uk - 459243.jpg, Church Cottage,

Stretton Grandison Stretton Grandison is a hamlet (place), hamlet and small civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 175. It is on the A417 road (a Roman Road, hence the settlem ...

, Herefordshire File:Chocolate box thatch - geograph.org.uk - 1219850.jpg, Cottage with thatched roof, Simpson,

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

File:Chocolate Box cottage, Ashton under Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1482850.jpg,

Ashton under Hill Ashton under Hill is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire in England. It is situated at the foot of Bredon Hill. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 743, about six miles south-west of Ev ...

, Worcestershire File:Circular Cottage, Blaise Hamlet.jpg, Cottage designed by John Nash at

Blaise Hamlet Blaise Hamlet is a group of nine small cottages around a green in Henbury, now a district in the north of Bristol, England. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle the Hamlet is lis ...

, Bristol File:Anne Hathaways Cottage 1 (5662418953).jpg,

Shottery Shottery, formerly a small village a mile west of Stratford-upon-Avon town centre, is now part of the town, though retaining the feeling of a distinct village. History and amenities Shottery has a village hallShottery Memorial Hall one seconda ...

, Warwickshire File:Thatched cottage - geograph.org.uk - 378606.jpg, Thatched cottage,

Brigsley Brigsley is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England, and on the B1203 road, south from Waltham. According to the 2001 Census its population was 370, reducing to 355 at the 2011 Census. Brigsley Grade II listed Angli ...

, Lincolnshire File:Selworthycottage.jpg, Cottage,

Selworthy Selworthy is a small village and civil parish from Minehead in Somerset, England. It is located in the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust's Holnicote Estate on the northern fringes of Exmoor. The pari ...

, Somerset File:Pump Cottage - geograph.org.uk - 1339484.jpg, Pump Cottage,

Harpford Harpford is a small village in East Devon, England. It lies on the east side of the River Otter, less than 1 mile north east of the larger village of Newton Poppleford. Harpford was an ancient parish. The parish was a strip parish, which in ...

, Devon

Other cottages

File:Round House, Veryan, Roseland, Cornwall taken 1964 - geograph.org.uk - 773009.jpg, Circular cottage in

Veryan Veryan (Cornish language, Cornish: ''Elerghi'') is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village has been described as one of Cornwall's loveliest inland ...

, Cornwall File:Thatched cottage in the sand dunes by Denmark.jpg, Cottage amongst sand dunes in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

File:Hans-en-Grietje.jpg, The

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

cottage at the

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a nature ...

theme park, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

File:Cabanas curarrehue.jpg, Snow-covered cottages near

Curarrehue Curarrehue () is a town and commune in Cautín Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. The origin of Curarrehue dates back to the occupation of Araucanía and the Conquest of the Desert by the Chilean and Argentine army respectively in the 1870s and ...

, Chile File:Balkhauser-kotten-20040803-06160.jpg, A cotter house (''Kotten'' or ''Katen'') near

Solingen Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...

, Germany – used as a vacation cottage today File:Vikendica (Međimurje, Croatia) - drvena.jpg, A wooden cottage in

Međimurje County Međimurje County (; hr, Međimurska županija ; hu, Muraköz megye) is a triangle-shaped Counties of Croatia, county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje (region), ...

, Croatia