We've retired to our mountain cabin and it's a constant joy looking out the window - a scene that is continuously changing. With snow on the ground now it is particularly lovely. Might get snowed in tomorrow, but we have nowhere we need to be and are well stocked up. The vibrant city of Asheville is just twenty minutes away. I grew up vacationing at the beaches of North and South Carolina, and my grandparents and then parents had a vacation home in Myrtle Beach. Yes, lovely walking on the beach and looking at (and swimming in) the water, but I almost always got headaches from the sun, it could get blazing hot, and I was either sticky from salt or scratchy from sand. And if I had a place at the beach, I'd want to be able to look at the water, which of course is the priciest real estate, subject to hurricanes and rising water levels and eroding beaches, not to mention sky high insurance. Nope, I'll stick with the mountains, unless I could have a place on a Greek island, too!

Come on... cuddled up with the one you love, in pajamas, with a crackling fire, and a mug of hot chocolate while it snows just outside. What more could you want!!!

We have a mountain home and love it but the sea is like a tranquilizer to me. I cant afford to live on the coast so I pick it.

Love a cabin, warm, serene, comfy and more of an all year round pleasure. It would be nice to have both, of course, but if I had to choose the cabin wins hands down.

Love the beach and all.. But I'm more of an old country lover.
Log cabin, coffee in earthenware, Old guns on the wall, rustic, comfortable and practical.

I would pick the cottage by the sea. We've lived in the mountains, and I loved it, but to have a cottage by the sea would be a great getaway!!

CAN'T WE HAVE BOTH ? LOL TOO MANY BEACH HOMES ARE WASHED AWAY IN STORMS AND TOO MANY CABINS RE BURNED IN FOREST FIRES. STILL WE HAVE INSURANCE TO HELP REPLACE.

I have always felt closer to GOD at the sea. It gives me peace and calms my mind. I pray that one day I will have a cottage at the water for my sister and I to retire.

A short 2-hr drive from our home takes us to a 100-yr-old cabin on the shore of Lake of the Woods -near the town of Kenora in NW Ont, Canada. We've enjoyed it for 30+ years; Summer & Fall are really lovely there, but too short.

A beach cottage would be wonderful to have from Nov to April.

I'm POSITIVE I was really meant to live my life in Hawaii, or Fiji, or whatever gorgeous, tropical climes. So water and beach all the way for me, baby! Clean lake OR ocean, as long as it's warm & infinitely swimmable.

If we're talking disasters, I'd rather drown in warm water than be either burned alive, buried in an avalanche, or drown in FRIGID, mountain-fed water! (after all, it can and does flood just as readily in mountainous areas)

For those here who already have my kind of dream location, but long for cold, snow and mountains instead, wanna trade houses?! ;) And for those who are lucky enough to have gotten *both,* for heaven's sake - please share your "how-to" secrets with the rest of us, lol!!!

lindapugh, yes, Lake of the Woods is just lovely, and you're so lucky to have a place there. I had a few friends whose families had cabins there (two even owned their own islands!), and probably still do. Aaaahhhhh......blissful. Same for Victoria Beach, a personal fave of mine.

I hear you, though -- Nov. to Apr. is the time to "get outta town" for most of us Cdns. unless we're in the warmer parts of BC, eh? ;)

Could I have Both ?! :-) My husband and I live in and near lots of woods in Arkansas. And we have a mountain cabin on our Wish List. However, when given the choice, being able to walk in the sunshine on the beach and swim in the ocean would feel wonderful and be great for health. Great question.

Tough decision. I chose the cabin because it would be quite and could enjoy the sounds of the wild life more. I love the smell of the ocean. But the water pounding the ocean is all you can here.

We live on the beach and couldn't and wouldn't trade it. Though there have been winter storms when......

I would adore either of the two, but I voted for the cottage because I love seeing water. Now if the cabin was overlooking a lake...I would be undecided. It is my dream to have a vacation home.

Blessed to have lived near the beach for 23 years. Now, we live near the mountains. Would love to have a beach cottage too. Best of both worlds!

Both!

Considering we still have snow on the ground here...I would without a doubt pick the cottage on the beach. When we vacationed on the beach, we opened the door and and windows at night and it was awesome!!

We love our "cottage" by the lake! Located
where we can enjoy all 4 seasons - sun & sand all summer, beautiful color
in the fall, long, peaceful winters, and all the kids & grands within an
hour's drive! Surrounded by God's creation and more blessings than we can
count!

All of this just out our back door:

The beach cottage looks very exposed and style of it isn't very beachy - it looks suburban. So I'm going for mountain cabin.

Yes to both. We are well into design for a Mountain style cabin that will be placed on a lakefront lot in Alberta's boreal forest. Big shout out to Sticks and Stones design group in Canmore for putting our dreams on paper. Construction scheduled for this spring!

A very nice place!

I currently live in the snowy mountains of N. California. A beach getaway would be my choice. Best of both worlds.

Beach cottage please. I lived near the ocean and beach most of my younger years and loved it so beach cottage is the obvious choice for me.

There's always something soulfully soothing hearing the sound of the ocean with sand in my my toes but that's why I love the majesty of the California coastline, you can have both! Give me a cliff house overlooking the Pacific any day!

I love my little rustic cabin!

Both. An escape for the weekend with family and/or friends.

why not both?

why isn't there a choice for both? right now I'm tired of the cold so I'll say beach!

Ionization for the soul !!!!!

Cottage; you have the beach right there and still the luxury of having a fire.

This is our view of the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia. The beach (beyond the hill), is rocky and unparalleled in my opinion.

Both! We enjoy the mountains AND the beach, if you have one you always want the other. Summer months at the beach house, Fall and winter months at the cabin.

I would like both too:)

Love our lakefront cottage! It's our year round home..

Cabin in the mountains, no. Cabin, cottage, heck even a mobile home, on a lake, absolutely. We had a year-round fish camp for 10 years on a lake in the Adirondacks. Loved it. We lived our dream. We are water people and will live on the water again one day!

I think both are fabulous! I prefer a beach house, but the mountains are beautiful as well.

I live partially in the mountains, so I would go for the cottage

We live in the tropics, hence a cabin in the mountains with cool breeze is a treat.

I am from Colorado, but live on Maui. You can't go wrong either way :)

I have a cottage on a lake with a private sand beach, but if it was the sea I would be really happy !

A cabin is the best for peace and tranquility. We've had a cabin near Sioux Lookout, ONT for 46 years. We've moved several times, the children have grown, families have grown, but the cabin remains. The land and the lake change only with the weather. A place for celebrating nature and life.

My summer consist of traveling to Pensacola Beach and camping there because the ocean soothes me so much, it's only 20 minutes from home. That is the only reason I pick cabin in the woods, surrounded again by nature!

The cabins really cute but c'mon the beach is the life!

After this nasty winter...I could use some beach time!!!

Had to choose the beach as we already live in the woods.

Live in a cabin already. Love it.

Got to go with both, yet none of the above. I'm still working on my little lake cottage, I live just an hour from the best of the Jersey shore, either Cape May or Ocean City and can be in the Poconos in about ninety minutes. The lake cottage has coastal décor going on and it's just ten miles from my back door. I wanted a cottage in New York or Vermont on either side of Lake Champlain but that is six and a half hours away. When I want to escape I can drive about thirteen minutes and sit looking over my dock and watch herons, swans, geese and cranes. It's the best of both worlds.

that beach cottage could be a mil while the mountain one could be 30k.... based on that alone id say beach :)

This one wasn't too hard for me! The cottage called my name!!!