Cottage Classics

The Perfect Little Playhouse

Behind a public beach in tony, picturesque Harbor Springs, Mich. (population: 1,500) is the perfect little playhouse. Cottage-style and whimsically decorated, the playhouse provided unexpected inspiration for one local family to build the house of their dreams.

“I told Town & Country, ‘That’s what I want my house to look like,’” said the homeowner.

And Town & Country obliged. Staff designers projected pictures of the kid-sized playhouse onto a screen and tweaked the components to create a full-size cottage home on the Quarry golf course at Bay Harbor, an upscale community of stunning homes, sprawling yachts, summer soirees and a relaxed, cottage lifestyle.

“The design phase was wonderful,” the homeowner added.

Welcome to Cottage Classics

With refreshing new timber or conventional cottage designs, Town & Country continues to step outside the log-home industry box to create incredible retreats using its northern White Cedar materials.

The company’s cottage style designs incorporate all there is to love about the look: cedar shake, lapboard, clapboard, timber, gingerbread accents, liberal creative elements and more.

“The ‘cottage’ style grew from humble beginnings, based on homes built by craftsmen. Many of those details have translated into the cottage style of today,” said Michelle Kruzel, Town & Country architect. “Exposed beams and woodwork are major design elements of this style. Historically, the wood was painted white to lighten up a room, and even today, our mind’s eye envisions white trim and details when we hear ‘cottage.’”

It was those details that endeared the Bay Harbor homeowners to the cottage style plans offered by Town & Country. Their home is both cavernous and cozy, incorporating coffee-and-book nooks, built-in bunks for the grandkids, semi-formal dining room and spacious above-the-garage bonus room within a meandering five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath design.

In the living room and master bedroom suite, cedar ceilings are painted white, giving the feel of an endearing family cottage that’s at once elegant and easygoing. The homeowner’s penchant for French Country decor adds to the ambiance of this family home in a treasured Northern town.

“The cottage style brings to mind a getaway place,” said Kruzel. “Some design elements that can be incorporated to fulfi ll this inspiration are window seats for gazing or reading, balconies for relaxing and softer furniture for unwinding.”

Cottage Essentials

Sweeping staircases, keeping rooms, timber elements, intriguing doorway shapes (all rounded in this home) and multiple staircases are additional elements emphasized in cottage design.

“Painted trims and the use of beadboard or wainscoting are cottage-style trademarks,” Kruzel added. “Details range from the simplistic to the complex, with the use of accents like corbels, wood rosettes, cornices and trims.”

The result is a timeless, endearing cottage, which Town & Country translated from playhouse to dreamhouse, with no details spared.

“It blends the fresh with the familiar, with focus on comfort,” Kruzel added. “Each client has their own definition of ‘cottage’ and we work to help them achieve the lifestyle they are dreaming about.”

An array of Cottage Classics

All of Town & Country’s award-winning floor plans are available in log, timber cottage, or hybrid custom interior and exterior finishes or trims.
The completely designed Cottage Classics line of literary-inspired floor plans includes:

The Alcott • The Hawthorne • The Hemingway • The Longfellow • The Whitman