Life Inside a Cottage

When co-authors Nell Card and Rachel Vere began working on their new book, Life Inside a Cottage, they were certain of one thing: it wouldn’t be an architectural guide, or an attempt to define what a cottage actually is. “Early on, we knew that we didn't want to get bogged down in terminology,” says Nell. “Instead, our approach was very visual, and much of the research revolved around beautiful imagery.” What followed was a process of gathering - reaching out to friends, photographers and other creatives in the industry, asking what they had seen, what had stayed with them, and what they felt worth sharing. As the material came together a pattern began to emerge, not in the form of architectural features, but in something far less tangible.

“More than anything, we discovered that what all cottages seem to have is a certain atmosphere,” continues Nell. “It’s an energy, and a sense that many ordinary lives have passed through the space. Historically, these dwellings held no romance at all. They were modest, practical and were often the homes of farm labourers or the poor. But they have a hard to define quality draws people in, which is why many homeowners have long, personal connections with the buildings.”

Some of the cottages stand in extraordinary landscapes - one is tucked beneath a vast rocky outcrop in Snowdonia, for example - while others, particularly those in unexpected settings, are striking for different reasons. In Lewisham, a small gatehouse cottage that was once part of a larger estate has remained almost intact, surrounded by the expansion of the city. “It’s such an anomaly and has somehow stood the test of time while everything around has been developed,” Nell observes. “The owners have fenced off a plot with a handmade, woven Hazel fence so it looks like something straight out of the countryside, even though they're in this built-up area of Southeast London. Remarkably, they are only the third owners to live in it, and they absolutely love that it’s the best of both worlds.”

Such properties become important not just for the people that live in them, but the people who live near them too. “They said that time and again, people comment on the cottage - that they know someone who once lived there – a family member or a friend. The house has become part of local legend, like a magnet for collective memory.”

The materiality of the cottages is something that connects to their location too. Often built from stone, flint, timber and thatch, a reoccurring theme was that these elements are fundamental to their character. “There's an idea that humans are innately drawn to using plants and natural materials to create shelter, and that they connect us to our deeper past,” Nell explains. Over time, the structural features also become carriers of a shared history. “One couple refused to remove the flooring in their cottage, even though it was ancient and battered. They said if we rip it up, we're going to lose the cottage’s soul, and that's what we love about it. Another owner spoke about how the stone mullions in her windows were something to be treasured because they had been there for so long, and so many people before her would have through them at the very same view.”

Many of the cottages are mutable spaces that have been gently adjusted as their inhabitants change or as families grow. “I love that they’re forgiving enough to be lived in as needs be. Extra rooms have been tacked on, or outbuildings or lean-tos added,” says Nell. “As a result, they can become quite higgledy-piggledy and for some that’s part of their charm, but for others, it is a challenge.” Another household lived for years in a cottage where the rooms felt strangely disjointed. They thought about selling but couldn’t let it go, so eventually they brought in an architect to reconfigure the space while still honouring its ‘cottageness’. “Now, they’re not occupying it in the same way people would have done 100 years ago. Instead, they’ve made it their own and they live in it in a contemporary way.”

To reside in a cottage, almost inevitably, is to take on a certain responsibility. “These are humble homes rather than huge, flashy pads that people have spent a fortune on, and it’s not just the things in them that matter,” concludes Nell. “Their custodians get to know them intimately; they are canvases that are worked on, cared for and embraced, which in turn makes them a cradle for creativity. One homeowner said, ‘if you look after your cottage, it will look after you’, and the people that live in these spaces believe that. It's a reciprocal relationship between the cottage and the cottage dweller, and that really is quite lovely.”

Life Inside a Cottage by Nell Card and Rachel Vere is available now.

Words by Claudia Baillie.

Image 1: Glenborrodale Cottage, photography by Joshua Foxley.

Images 2 and 5: Spring Cottage, photography by Jasper Fry.

Image 3: Little Mill, photography by Jasper Fry.

Image 4: Stockwell Cottage, photography by Mark Anthony Fox.

Image 6: Skye and Lochalsh Cottage, photography by Murray Orr.

Image 7: Perth Cottage, photography by Jack Lovel.