In modern usage, a cottage is a dwelling, typically in a non-urban location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities). In most settings, the term cottage denotes a small, often cozy dwelling, and small size is integral to the description, but in some places, such as Canada, the term exists with no connotation of size at all (cf. vicarage or hermitage). In Canada, the term cottage usually refers to a vacation/summer home, often located near a body of water.

Origin of the term

Originally -in the Middle-Ages- cottages housed agricultural workers and their families. The term cottage denoted the dwelling of a cotter. Thus, cottages were smaller peasant units (larger peasant units being called "messuages"). In that early period, a documentary reference to a cottage would most often mean, not a small stand-alone dwelling as today, but a complete farmhouse and yard (albeit a small one). Thus in the Middle-Ages, the word cottage (Lat. "cotagium") seems to have meant not just a dwelling, but have included at least a dwelling (domus) and a barn (grangia), as well as, usually, a fenced yard or piece of land enclosed by a gate (portum)

Examples of this may be found in 15th Century manor court rolls. The house of the cottage bore the Latin name: "domum dicti cotagii", while the barn of the cottage was termed "grangia dicti cotagii".

Later on, a cottage might also have denoted a smallholding comprising houses, outbuildings, and supporting farmland or woods. A cottage, in this sense, would typically include just a few acres of tilled land.

Much later (from around the 18th Century onwards), the development of industry led to the development of weavers' cottages and miners' cottages.

Cottages in North America

In North America, most buildings known as cottages are used for weekend or summer getaways by city dwellers. It is also not uncommon for the owners of cottages to rent their properties to tourists as a source of revenue.

Canadian cottages are generally located near lakes or the ocean in wilderness areas and are utilized as a place to go fishing, hiking, and sailing. There are also many notable summer colonies.

Cottage vacationing is one of the most popular tourist draws in Ontario, Canada, in a region that has come to be known as cottage country. This term typically refers to the area around Muskoka, Ontario, but has also been used to describe several other Canadian regions. The practice of renting cottages has become a major industry in these regions.

Notable cottages

• Oakhurst Cottage
• Bishop Asbury Cottage
• La Trobe's Cottage
• Knockan
• Craven Cottage

See also

• Cottage industry
• Bothy
• Dacha
• Garden real estate
• Alpine hut
• Bungalow
• Pied a terre

House types | Agriculture | Recreation

Cottage (Wohngebäude) | Chaumière | Seconda casa | Vakantiehuis | コテジ | Chata | Cottage | Mökki