something from a Rosamunde Pilcher book.

Wait, did she write Circle of Friends? The ultimate cottage!

no, that was Maeve Binchy. if you liked Maeve Binchy, you should def scout out Rosamunde Pilcher.

best book written, ever. bar none.

Oh yes! My grandmother turned me on to both authors around the same time, I get them mixed up!

Well Becky I grew up in Muskoka and yes many of the "cottages" there are definitely grande and luxurious. The designer referred to the 5000 sf home as a cottage because it would only have been used in summer months.

Regardless of how large a structure is, it is a cottage if only used in summer. The mansions on Lake Muskoka are therefore cottages.

A very small house at the lake or beach. Other than that, I've never heard a home referred to as a cottage. I grew up in the Intermountain West and now live in western Washington if that tells you anything.

Cottage to me is a small house by the water.

I think a lot of the comments above are from Canadians.
Recognize some of the places from when I lived there 40 years ago. We had many friends with cottages on lakes.
Here in California we have a lot of Craftsman cottages built in the 1920's, very charming, wood siding, front porches, hardwood floors, fireplace, built- cabinets, 2-3 bedrooms and usually 1 bath. Usually 900-1,000 Sq. ft.
We also have Spanish or Mission style cottages, also built in the 1920's, with stucco, tile roofs, wrought iron, terra cotta tiles, outdoor terraces or patios, also 2-3 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and bathroom. They were called 5 room cottages. Today they sell for $1,000,000 and up!

If you google Spanish or Mission cottage or Craftsman cottage you will see many examples. You probably just didn't know they were called cottages. They were also called 5 room cottages.They are very prevalent in older historic areas of California and other southwest cities.
We just bought a Spanish cottage built in 1924 and are fixing it up , but keeping it's original charm. Still has it's original floors, built in cabinets, doors, hardware etc. You aren't allowed to change the facade of these homes in historic districts as building codes are very strict and you usually have to have things approved by the Historical Association.

A small simple house, typically one near a lake or beach or wood.

I have a 410 square foot house on the coast of Maine. I'm pretty sure it's a cottage but my Dad calls it a CAMP because it's insulated. So what's the difference between a camp and a cottage?

Craftsman, Spanish cottages are usually in downtown areas, or historical areas of cities. The oldest parts of cities, since they were built in the 20 s before suburbs.
San Diego, North Park, near the zoo and park.
San Jose, The Rose Garden.
Palo Alto, downtown.
L.A. .......lots of examples of Spanish and Craftsman cottages in almost any city in LA. County.
Check out the designer Catherine Ireland's darling Mission style home.

Sorry that's Kathryn

@peggy tipper, this is actually a full-time home in Muskoka, but it's on a lake. Coming soon to HOUZZ stories ...

I call my house a cottage but it's far from the water, unless you count my neighbor's pools. Yes that's plural. I call their yard "The Four Seasons."

@sandyc, coincidentally I posted a photo of my bookshelves today and you could see 2 Kathryn Ireland books - Summers in France and Timeless Interiors. I love her style and personality. Now I can't find that photo.

To Canadians, a cottage is a house on or near a lake that's mainly used in the summer.

She was on a show, I think it was called Million Dollar Designers. She is such a kick!

Wait, I lied, You can only see Timeless Interiors, Summers in France is out of frame to the left! I saw she was selling the France place in a magazine awhile back, maybe in the interesting listings sections of Architectural Digest? How could anyone let that place go?!?!

Oh I miss that Million Dollar Decorators, those people had no big projects going on that they were allowed to share during filming (hello, lucite boxes for shoes? Photos from Mary McDonald's own office transported to a client's house?) but their personalities were SO much fun to watch! I did love when Martin tackled that pub. His voice is the best!

@capeeliz, Maine is my favorite state! My family had a "cottage" there that was recently torn down to build a contemporary larger house. We still call it "the cottage."

I thought camps were NOT insulated. Reminds me of my brother - he was invited to a friend's "camp" in college in upstate NY and thought it would be some rustic hunting shack. Turned out he was related to the Vanderbilts and it was a some classic original Adirondack Camp, what the very rich built after the Newport thing was kind of over — absolutely massive! I guess "camp" is another term to tackle ...

As a former Canuck we called summer houses on the lake cottages too. We call those type of residences, cabins here in California, usually a vacation home used in the winter for skiing or summer activities such as boating etc.
But what a cottage is, I think is a style of a structure. Either Mission, Craftsman etc. Make sense?
Have been doing a lot of research on this, since we closed on our Spanish Mission style cottage last week. It's right in the heart of downtown in the old historical district.
I think that's possibly because cottages here in California don't need to be winterized as in Canada and are primary residences for many. They are simply charming!

a small house (relative to the area normal size), windows with mullions, or divided glass, simple roof lines, overfilled, informal gardens, informal furnishings, usually painted in a light color.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, and other areas of the North East, Great Lakes region, what most North Americans call a cabin, they refer to as a cottage.
I wonder if that has to do with their Anglo. and European roots?
Many Canadian words still follow the British, such as holidays for vacation, cupboards for cabinets, chesterfield for sofa, and of course serviette for napkins,lol.
In England and other parts of Europe, the servants and farmers on the huge country estates lived in cottages.

To me a cottage style house must have rooms that are cozy, inviting, relaxed and whimsical. Once a house is over 3500 sq ft it move into Hampton's Style or Cape Cod.

The photo of the Provincetown cottage says it all. However, I think of a fairly small, quaint, vintage house with lots of charm, antique furnishings, a fireplace, window boxes, a flower bed along the foundation, and a white picket fence. The location can be an established neighborhood, a country road, lakeside, or a wooded area.

Small. One floor. Wood construction. Close to the sea or in a rural area. Plenty of windows. Surrounded by a garden. Cottages radiate happiness, so you know it when you see one.

Camps are more rustic and don't have foundations. It's odd though that the same building would be called a camp in Maine but a cottage on Cape Cod.

As a child we called my uncle's ranch style house on Cape Cod "The Cottage" (actually we still do) but after studying house design "cottage" has a different meaning

Small rooms with lots of multi-paned window, plus doorways, dormers, angles and woodwork all around.

Even though this house is 3500 sq ft it is decorated in a "Cottage" style.

I am lucky to live in Muskoka and yes we have many very large mansions here (not me!) but they are styled as cottages; with large boathouses and beautiful grounds. It's a pleasure to tour this area by water on our many beautiful lakes.

English cottage

A home that doesn't try too hard. Typically one story with smaller cozy rooms and a all around traditional style. I would say it would probably be something under 3000 or so square feet because it typically focuses on the necessities.

Just one of the summer cottages of Newport, RI. The owners did call them cottages.

Another Canadian (Ontario) here, and to me, a cottage is a weekend or summer place, usually by water, that isn't one's primary residence. It can be any size, with or without electricity or running water.

Yes, as I found out Ontarioans(sp) call what most people think of as a lake cabin or mountain cabin, a cottage.

Ive been calling my new house a cottage--or at least thats what Im trying to focus it toward!! Its 1350 Sq.Feet with 2 baths..I removed the plastic shutters and I hate the vinyl siding-why do people do that!!!! and Im over 50 and not afraid to paint a little every few years :-) I found old shutters from a 200 year old stone home that Im working on restoring to put on the house--Im thinking to stick with the white look as the shutters will still give depth and character to the home with the shading they will throw off--but Im still pondering that one..something very refreshing about an all white home! Ive posted on design dilemma looking for help setting up the cottage garden ne

ar the new picket fence--any comments appreciated! Thanks!!

Thanks so much to everyone for all of their comments! This is the story I was writing when I wrote this cottage question. It also came on the heels of seeing everyone freak out over something called "cottage" that was over 1000 square feet (not for the first time), which prompted me to post a photo of The Breakers in that Comments section of that story and really got me thinking 1) about how "cottage" has changed over time and 2) what it means to people all over the world. A lot of it seems to have to do with where you grew up and what your first "cottage" experience was. I know it does for me.

Anyway, here is the story. I need to find a photo of the exterior which to me is very FLW/Prairie Style-inspired. The designer told me that basically everything up in Muskoka is called "cottage," even thought these folks live in theirs year-round. I suppose it is a sort-of weekend home for their many overnight guests!

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/houzz-tour-contemporary-canadian-lake-house-warms-and-welcomes-stsetivw-vs~49152392

Not everything in Muskoka is called a cottage. I am in the process of building a new home in Muskoka and it will be a house not a cottage because I intend to live in it year round. Although my new home will have water frontage, it will not be a summer home or seasonal property. Some properties are originally built to be seasonal but the owners later decide to live in it year round but still call it "the cottage".

Yes, as I said, very different in that part of the world...Ontario.
As most call many types of structures cottages, it refers to a style, Craftsman, Spanish revival etc. Canucks call what most refer to as a cabin a cottage. I live in California and have just purchased a 990 sq. foot cottage, in our old historic part of downtown, no water in sight, lol. I grew up in Ontario and had many friends who spent their summers at the "cottage". As I said in a previous post, I think it comes from their Anglo. heritage, as many other "Canadian" words.
My parents would come to visit us in California and they would tell people they were on holiday, and Americans would ask "oh, what holiday is it?"

Here is an article that explains the cottage/camp/cabin nomenclature in a Canadian context: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/camp-cottage-or-cabin-what-do-you-call-your-weekend-getaway/article4186858/?page=all

To most southern Ontarians, any lakeside seasonal-use house is a "cottage." But to northern Ontario residents, such a structure is called a "camp" (and frankly I've always preferred the manly, purposeful sound of 'camp,' which implies hunting/fishing/beer drinking etc.!)

To me, a cottage is a home which is often quite casual, placed in a rural, mountainous or waterside setting, where the home is meant primarily to enjoy the setting rather than make some statement of its own. I've never thought of square footage, but it would seem odd to me, for a cottage to have a "media room", for example.

Cottage is a term used more by Canadians. It's generally a second home by a lake. Some people in the U.S. Use the term but also some say summer home, lake house, etc. I've heard people in New Jersey say shore home or house.

I am from Quebec and we had a summer house that we called "the cottage" but I think of a "cottage STYLE" as any two story house. I think that is what realtors call a cottage here and it doesn't refer to any particular size.

the original homestead at my farm, a log home, was built on to by three generations. It went form being a one room log home to what I consider to be a cottage (a small, homey, reminiscent, house) and I made it into a rental with that name, Gosherd Valley Cottage. But somewhere in those years of transformation is also went all "midcentury modern", as the outside still reflects. I so need to harm that up!

www.gosherdcottage.com

*I live in the barn loft with foamboard ceilings and particle board floors. :-) lol....it is the mismatched place all the old furniture comes to die.

I just read the Globe and Mail article and it is, as the author says very specific for people in Eastern Ontario to call what most would say is a cabin( in the woods on the lake etc.) a cottage. It says it comes from there roots and homesteading. Very interesting.
Here in the states a "cottage" is a cabin. We vacation at our Lake Tahoe cabin in the mountains or beach house or cabin on the lake. A cottage is more a style of house, such as a Mission Style cottage and of course the very popular Craftsman style cottage.

We have a cottage in Nova Scotia (eastern Canada, Maritimes) near my family. Those who use their small houses (around 1000 sq. feet) only as summer dwellings tend to call them cottages; those who live here year-round tend to say house. All the ones I'm familiar with are on the water... unlike Ontario, not lakes, but one of the many rivers or bays, or the grand old ocean herself. As for the style, the cottages tend to be primarily one floor, with a small upstairs for a couple of bedrooms with very slanted roofs. In England, many of the cottages I've seen are one floor, although there can be small sleeping rooms upstairs. Ceilings are typically fairly low.... maybe 8 feet; very old English cottages would be lower. Originally, I believe they were the small dwellings of farm workers on a large estate (some episodes of "Downton Abbey" may refer to this concept).

Cottages I'm familiar with in North America usually have wood sidings, and are set in the middle of gardens consisting of lawn, flowers, herbs, vegetables and berry bushes. They're usually painted cheerful colors; whites, creams, yellows, light blues. Many of the seasonal cottages have been "opened up" downstairs by their owners, so that there is a flow-through space. We added wainscoting to our bathroom and installed an antique tub and sink to give it a 1900s feel. As others have noted, they are happy places!

Our log cottage is used only 4 months of the year in summer and we love it because it is rustic and very old....110 years,has a lot of character and beautiful property on a small lake with exceptional views as it is an island with causeway to it.As well there is a second log building (property is 3acres),which is sleeping quarters for family and work shop for my husband (2stories)we call it a shed because it was a barn before we moved it to our property.Will attempt to send photos.

It can mean many things yet in most definitions, they all mean "small". Despite it being charming, by the water, fairy-tale like, etc., it's still small or considered a second home. Could be offensive rather than complementary as it's not a design style imho. Offensive if you don't consider your house 'small'. :)