Cottagecore: The Architecture and Philosophy

[@fazdoll]

Don't kill me for bringing up the name, but someone who was really into cottagecore was Thomas Kinkade. Yes, people can accuse him of being a shameless peddler of popular kitsch for the masses. But there's no denying that the actual dwellings in his paintings -- cabins and cottages -- are the stuff of dreams. People want to LIVE in the cottages he painted. That's why he was so popular.

[@Moosemoose1]

It's true, his paintings are incredible and feel so warm and inviting to so many people, which isn't something that could be said about architecture from the 1930s onward. What has frustrated me is who gets to determine what is "kitsch"? Is it really kitsch if it's popular enough that the masses love it? Why should an "enlightened" few get to determine what is "kitsch" and what is "serious"? It's usually its architectural elites or those obsessed with challenging boundaries for the sake of challenging boundaries who gatekeep architecture by calling the masses "luddites" for not "understanding" architecture when the masses do in fact understand that architecture is MEANT to be warm, inviting, sensible places to live and work in, not over-the-top monuments to ego and abstract ideas.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

The problem with his art, is that these cute warm cottages are often planted in a landscape they could not support them. That’s sweet babbling brook that goes by so many of his houses, will leave the house 4 feet deep in water come spring. Roads that twist and turn for no obvious reason. Then there is the whole light thing. No one lights up a house that way. It all looks like a bad model railroad.

[@Moosemoose1]

@@pmsteamrailroading Of course, because the man wasn't an architect, you can't expect his paintings to perfectly represent reality. But the designs of his buildings, the warmth and humanity that exudes from them IS realistic, as many real cottages and old school architectural design was built to not only be functional, but warm and inviting - to feel like an actual home. Contemporary architecture has none of that warmth, as it is dogmatically opposed to ornament as "kitsch" and is psychotically obsessed with minimalism, when in reality minimalism never naturally occurs anywhere. Nature is full of textures, colors, patina, patterns, flaws and ornament, and our architecture should reflect this. Contemporary architecture is obsessed with either straight lines or weird oblong, unnatural shapes made with high tech materials which not only cost more, but are nowhere near as durable as, say, wood, stone and brick (and dont you dare say they are - no building made in the last 100 years will stand longer than something made out of stone and brick...and YES we need to design buildings to last that long, enough of this consumer culture). You don't see gleaming metal or steel in nature, glass isn't a feature of nature, so its mass incorporation into a building looks alien and stands out completely from the nature around it. Old school cottages with smaller windows display more of the natural material they are made of, and minimize its visual distinction from the environment. Sure the glass may erase the barrier between the inside and outside (when viewed from inside), but on the outside harsh angles, "bold", eccentric styling and glass plates are completely unnatural looking and do not blend with the surrounding environment. That is why most people are turned off by contemporary design. . The best example of what humanistic architecture should be like is embodied in the worldview of the artist and designer William Morris.

[@babymoon5282]

@@pmsteamrailroading so I'm guessing you have never seen the town called Geithorn in Holland? The cottages are all along the waterways . The waterways are the streets and have been for 100s years. Thomas kinkade style s definitely a lifestyle that can be achieved without your cottage sinking

[@edwardkravchuk5659]

I love Kinkade, made modernists with no taste absolutely seethe. May his influence last for longer than those kings in no clothes.

[@Green4CloveR]

Marie Antoinette was in to cottage core. She had a rustic cottage build at Versailles and wore lacy white peasant dresses to escape the harsh life at the palace.

[@Steplerov]

In Russia we have big love for “dacha”. The vast majority lives in flats, but every family wants to have retreat house in the country just for summer

[@kattihatt]

Interesting. Its quite similar to Sweden where I live. Do you have any suggestions on yt channels that are about building or renovating dachas in Russia?

[@fimaosabrosa]

It is also interesting that many dachas have agricultural areas, where people grow vegetables, fruits, and berries. For some people it is not only a retreat, but a hobby farming place. Привет, Степан!

[@annakurse2650]

@@kattihatt agreed, and Finland too.

[@SmallBritishCar]

@@kattihatt there aren’t many good channels, but I’m pretty sure, that there are a lot of publications on websites and forums. This is just a theory though, as I am one of those rare Russians, who doesn’t have a dacha

[@Cythil]

In Sweden, there is also the separate idea of an agricultural lot. A space mainly dedicated to agriculture. kolonilott, or colony lot in English. In general in Sweden there is a dream that you have either a small summer home, a boat, or some form of mobile home. With the summer home being for most the ideal. And the adventures sort wanting mobile living. Each very popular, and sometimes people do own both a summer home and a boat or mobile home.

[@lisakilmer2667]

I think cottagecore is very similar to the Romantic movement of the early Victorian era - both a reaction to technology trends at the time. Anti-modern trends go in cycles: early Romanticism, Arts & Crafts, Gothic Revival, American Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival, 1970s Rustic, and so forth. I suspect each "revival" is linked to a frustration with technology trends and a desire to return to a perceived "real" state. I did not know about Phenomenology but I can see how influential the idea should be in architecture. One's surroundings absolutely affect one's worldview. I've always been fascinated by the different ways different cultures solve the same problems of shelter, warmth, cool and light and I believe that the stereotypes of different national "personalities" has something to do with differing architectural styles.

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

Glad I wasn’t the only one thinking it

[@DJ-Sellout]

It's fascinating that just the aesthetic of a home changes how one could perceive themselves living in it. My experience is that initially it has a tangible effect on me and then wears off after about a month. This has got me thinking about the difference in designing for visitors as apposed to designing for residents/workers. Great video I've got a lot to think about

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

I can relate to this. In 1974, when I was in my early teens, my family moved from midtown Manhattan to a blueberry farm in western Massachusetts. My parents were badly burnt out by urban life and wanted something different. Well, it was different. It was undeniably beautiful, and I certainly had a sense of the change of seasons that city life blunted. However, it was also a tremendous amount of work. The farm was our only source of income, and it wasn't secure since so much depended on weather, pest infestations, etc. We lived in a beautiful c1800 farmhouse with no insultation and heated by wood stoves. On some cold winter mornings the water in the toilet had a layer of ice. The "idea" of living a rural life was appealing, but the actuality of it was really difficult. My parents ended up selling the farm after six years.

[@danz356]

Certainly true that a place that's great to visit like a novelty restraunt or even disneyland can become a mundane place for long term employee's & the same applies to long term living quaters especially styles that are rigid and unflexible for lifestyle changes that can be museum like, a fixed look but don't touch! decor that can stagnate overtime.

[@margitedwards8451]

Yes I lived amongst Walt Disney’s cottages all over Los Feliz. They are both silly and charming. Loved living around them.

[@zantac180]

I saw a good breakdown of cottagecore that was part of a Kiki's Delivery Service review. Basically, a majority of us have been living in cities for the past few generations compared to the eons of time where most humans lived in what we would call rural communities. I think you hit the nail on the head with time being a big component of this. Whether we notice it or not, our lives are controlled by needing to know what time it is for work whereas time used to be measured by if the sun was up or not or by which season it was.

[@RobertoRodriguez-gg6ei]

Have the link to it?

[@zantac180]

@@RobertoRodriguez-gg6ei kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5jUlGqji5Kpl68 it’s around the 5:30 mark the section begins and continues into the next section in cottage core. I highly recommend watching the entire video

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

Excellent video! I'm reminded of the European Romantic movement in arts and literature, beginning in the latter part of the 18th century. The advent of the Industrial Revolution led to a real sense of dislocation, and many wealthy gentry and industrialists starting building artificial "natural" landscapes, fake ruins or "follies", and even fake villages as an antidote. Marie Antoinette's "l'Hameau de la Reine" in the gardens of Versailles comes to mind, as well as an English gentleman's artificial hermit's cottage on his estate. (Sorry. I don't remember the name or location.) He even hired someone to "play" the hermit, and when guests passed his way, the hermit would come out of the cottage and hurl abuse at them. Sometimes this led to some really remarkable work, especially in landscape architecture, like Frederick Law Olmstead's parks, but most of it was an escapist affectation that had no staying power. The irony, of course, was that most of the wealth that enabled the building of these stage sets came from the industries that the owners were trying to escape. Could something of the same dynamic be at work in today's cottage core movement?

[@stewarthicks]

Sounds pretty relevant!

[@eleanor9878]

I think that’s Painshill estate in the uk! Ironically the hired “hermit” was fired after being seen in the local pub only a couple of weeks after starting the job! The whole estate is really interesting though it also holds many purposeful foleys and ruins made to look romantic as well as the uk’s largest man-made crystal cave

[@patrickstrasser-mikhail6873]

As European, I get a lot of impressions about the USA from movies and series, picturing a for me strange (but obviously stereotypical and heavily filtered) life. It's important and helpful to get explanations like yours to really understand the images and codes that are transported this way. Thanks for explaining this part of US culture.

[@dougtyas9701]

I would love to see you address tiny houses. It seems to me that the reasons behind people living in cottages or a tiny houses are similar, but the design of tiny houses is much more varied than cottagecore.

[@AdamDTaylor]

OH MY GOD! where has this incredible video been all my life!? I'm designing a shed in my garden to look like a castle, I've spent years trying to define why I like this concept and if there's anyone else seeking this - and I find it here! 👌 👏 👍

[@RjWolf3000]

I have always suspected storybook was more a reaction to trauma than about “what soldiers saw”. 30 years of war, disease, and famine and a lot of folks wanted to live in the land of imagination.

[@stewarthicks]

Good point.

[@RjWolf3000]

Yeah i sort of wonder if there is a metric of public feelings of security that correlate with preferences of nostalgic or contemporary styles in homes. Did the cold war make all those people want colonial style window treatments on their suburban split levels? Will our current trauma lead new construction down the path of harry potter and star wars themed home construction? Only time will tell.

[@kellysouter4381]

Who doesn't? It's so nice there, right up til reality catches up.

[@davelowinger7056]

easy to fix.

[@Merdle]

"As we are disconnected from the tangible world" in a completely flat tone. Nailed it!

[@Salt_Master_Queue]

This is my favorite style of house. I would pay good money to build my own house in this style.

[@serbanstoica1910]

Awsome video! Keep on bringing us these juicy content. You are in a pretty niche field here on YT as there aren't many videos on architecture. I truly think you are a pioneer in this section of content, making very entertaining and truly educational videos. Thank you!

[@stewarthicks]

Glad you're enjoying it!

[@carissafisher7514]

I went to architecture school, I had no idea what Heidegger was all about. Thanks for explaining his philosophy in an easy way.

[@metricstormtrooper]

I loved this video, here in Tasmania, the island state of Australia, we have, or at least before housing prices skyrocketed "Shacks" either by the sea or in the mountains next to the miriad of lakes and trout streams. A Tasmania shack is where the family if you have one can go, relax, and forget about the stresses of everyday life in a structure made out of found and recycled material, often built in a ramshackle organically growing manner. Building standards have put paid to this so our shack, while looking a!most normal from the outside is painted and furnished and decorated wit second hand furniture, paint from the local tip shop and the bedrooms are carpeted with sample carpet squares with no two samples the same in any room. It works and along with hammock points everywhere outside makes it a really relaxing place to go when life gets too tough.

[@a24-45]

Shacks are so Australian. My family has had a shack outside of Sydney for 3 generations. I know exactly what you're talking about-- ours was also built by hand from cheap scrounged materials with no professional input, and I love that every bit of it is unique, yet constantly being altered by those who use it year by year.

[@jclark2752]

I think it is important to realize that, while some inhabitants of environments get to choose a style and Don a roll, most people experience these decisions outside of their control. To my mind, choosing to create an evocative environment therefore is a gift to others. It is this opportunity to experience an alternative reality that makes things like storybook styles so popular with the public. - in that way they represent a willingness to share some aspect of ourselves that cannot be otherwise packaged and posted.

[@jacktaylor6690]

The heidigger cross over was much appreciated and very cool

[@stewarthicks]

Not my expertise, but important for sure.

[@zibbydafuqjo4584]

Yes thank you, missed the part where he was an actual real Nazi though and very much in support of the whole thing. But hey, cute cottages!

[@adrianghandtchi1562]

I’m so pleased you’re covering this subject because as much as I love your modern architecture videos, so I really like stuff explored in a more classic or whimsy style or setting.

[@sibyllepetersen618]

We live in a thatched roof cottage from the 19th century. Its form is the typical bronze age long-house since it has been built on the flint-rock foundation of much older cottages that came before (northern Europe). We renovated it ourselves. It's on my MIL farm in the middle of an orchard. It is a dream. Fireplace, wooden floors, and all. We found some painted walls under a layer of more modern paint. Someone had painted a band of pink roses around the room at eye height sometimes in the 1860s. We found a contract in Latin about land use and rents (to be paid among other things in bacon and vodka) in the attic. We have this treasure box because my husband's family, until our generation, was too poor to tear it down and build something modern. Richer families in the area demolished the old cottages and orchards and went for 1970s bungalows. I always get sad when old houses are torn down. I know that we need new developments, but we only see what we have lost some 50 or 150 years later.

[@TheOrtizme]

I've been listening to / reading commentary on Heidegger for a while now and this is the first time I''ve heard phenomenology expressed so succinctly..

[@lex6819]

I would add the films of Merchant & Ivory, from 80s and 90s, reflect much of the cottagecore sensibility as well. Especially Howard's End.

[@Ricangelo]

You know? I always assumed that those style you introduced at the beginning are cabins, meanwhile cottages are totally different. Cabins mostly built of logs inside out while cottages from stone or mud walls. Cabins are more American while cottages British.

[@kor2525]

I recently discovered your channel, I am fascinated. I am an architecture student in Mexico City, and studies can sometimes overwhelm you, however your videos help me to remember what I love about architecture and the approach you give them is a breath of fresh air for me. Please keep making these videos, much success and keep growing.

[@stewarthicks]

That makes me very happy. Thank you for sharing.

[@marcusrauch4223]

Very interesting to hear about cottagecore. I‘ve been dreaming for years of a cottage in the middle of nowhere overseeing a big lake close by surrounded by mountains and thick snow everywhere.

[@rorychisholm8207]

A really interesting comparison, thank you. As an architect and a huge fan of phenomenology I would add that there are wonderful examples of phenomenological architecture achieving an authenticity that a wood-lined room doesn’t. The most famous probably being the work of Peter Zumthor; but there are plenty of others globally (like Anupama Kundoo, Studio Mumbai, Wang Shu, Francis Kéré, Doshi, Hector Barroso). They use natural materials in a load bearing, holistic, structural way - their buildings feel of the earth and surrounding natural world, and are sometimes made quite simply of nothing more than the earth around them. Not forgetting the highly phenomenological experience of historic buildings. Writers on this, like Juhanni Pallasmaa, would point out that it’s not a ‘new style’ at all, but that walking through the dark, narrow and winding streets of the ‘old quarter’ in cities like Barcelona, Zurich or Edinburgh, you are having a phenomenological architectural experience, even though the original architects wouldn’t have put it like that. This arguably is the most authentic experience you can have with any building; which is far from a simple facade of timber to change the mood of a room. Really appreciated your video though, as it’s given me food for thought and expanded my concept of this design principle. Ok, essay over….

[@nashjonas]

Heidegger was actually my grandfather's Doctoral Advisor and thesis director when he was getting his PhD in Germany. That's also the same time that he became friends with Hannah Arendt!

[@NDKY67]

The Bohemian artists of the early twentieth century were very much into connecting with the countryside and their rural roots, the artist Augustus John took to travelling the countryside in an authentic horse drawn gypsy caravan during his summer holidays away from teaching art.

[@Robin_Goodfellow]

As a mild insomniac, I can confidently say that there is no place I sleep better than in my family's cabin. No cars, no phone, not even a fridge humming. Absolute quiet.

[@stvp68]

Those storybook roofs helps me understand Gehry’s curves

[@philipfrancis2728]

There’s a lovely storybook style mansion on the corner of Hazel St and Hutchison in Uptown as well as a number of them along Sheridan Road in Evanston. They’re definitely striking and different! I never understood the impetus for the style until today! Thanks!

[@RichardLightburn]

There's a direct connection between "Storybook" and Hollywood. There's a similar connection between Mies Van der Rohe and the emerging German film industry. While working for Bruno Paul and Peter Behrens, Mies did a lot work in Neu Babelsberg, the suburb of Berlin that housed the new film magnates and studios. Of course, Neu Sachlikeit and Cottagecore are about as far apart as can be imagined.

[@ababababaababbba]

Ive grown up my whole life in the bay area and third bay tradition are my favorite kind of buildings, never saw them anywhere else and never knew what they were called until now

[@BostonMark]

many today have a fascination with the tiny home 🏡 also the treehouse gable roof windows and all

[@dennynikaj]

As an architect penomenology is my style of architecture, I am albanian, as an albanian I naturally am surrounded by old and aincent buildings, the small details like the creeks at the front door, the old woodfloors making noise every step that you take, every sound similar to that reminds me of my childhood, that is the magic of phenomenology.

[@underwaterlaser1687]

Some years ago we visited Goethe’s cottage and Haus am Horn, a Bauhaus building, on the same day. What an experience!

[@agntdrake]

I stayed recently in The Sea Ranch close by to the Charles Moore house shown here. All of the houses there are just spectacular. It's well worth the visit (and staying for a week!) if you're into this style of architecture.

[@ashleyhamman]

The first house I lived in was essentially a cabin, but turned into a spacious loft, and built by my dad and his dad, amid the redwoods and pines of the Sierra Nevadas, it was primarily designed to be a summer home, but worked pretty well for year-round living as well. While I do think it worked with that "cabin in the woods" retreat to nature, I can't help but think that there's probably room for distinction between cottagecore, which I think of as focusing on the lush temperate climate, and some other form that focuses on more alpine terrain and styling, with the steep roofs or chalet-like overhanging decks looking out onto a view that's more focused on looking out at the isolation, rather than strictly participating in it.

[@MrDEWaters]

Laura WIlder's home is a museum a few miles east of Springfield, Missouri outside of the town of Mansfield. It has been maintained there for many decades, but it's more popular than ever today--the cottagecore fans' pilgrimage site I suppose.

[@melodyborg6164]

Thank you for teaching me about the concept of phenomenology, those buildings were gorgeous and the philosophy is very appealing to me. I think a big part of the appeal of a cottage is that connection to the landscape - a cottage in a dense suburban or urban environment is really just a cute house. I think there's a romantic idea of self-sufficiency of living in a cottage, yet most of us can't actually afford to live in a rural environment. Great content!

[@alexandersibilio7436]

To me a cottage represents a space where all the worries of a grown up life are not allowed!!!... In short... I imagine it's a playful exercise for any architect to design one!! I'm a bit surprised there's no mention of the American artist Thomas Kinkade and his paintings which were undoubtedly in spite of himself a trend before Instagram 😅

[@raiyaniqbal1994]

This video came at the perfect time for me because I was drawing up and dreaming a design for my dream home. I want a log house that looks more fantastical instead of being luxurious and I wanted to draw inspiration from structures in Lord of the Rings. My drawing is starting to take shape but maybe this video and other works can help me find the right fantastical edge my dream home needs.

[@Nostalg1a]

Of course the area in which your building in will make a big difference (climate,materials, etc), but if you look up arts and crafts houses, cabins made in the 1890s and 1910s, or even the early shingle style homes in the US, it should give you great inspiration.

[@raiyaniqbal1994]

@@Nostalg1a Thanks, that really helps. I can definitely see the fantastical appearance from these that kind of style.

[@nassimorousseau6914]

That was sooooo interesting. The link between Cottagecore and Heidegger's Phenomenology really is an interesting take, especially for people like Heidegger and Aalto, who produced thoughts and shapes that have influenced the world. Being able to make a link between their houses and the work they produced really enhance the importance of where we live as a decisive factor on our creations. An other exemple which lies in a different architectural background is the Eames's house and studio, filled with many artwork from all other the globe. The furnitures they designed had to match this eclectic environnement and somehow, I believe, it is why we can still consider them timeless today. As a design student, working on tiny-houses construction, your work here is really uplifting ! I guess I'll look more into it, Thank you !

[@markmasi5219]

Love this channel. Very interesting (and entertaining!) piece on cottage architecture. FYI, there are some odd and awkward (but sweet) storybook cottages in Burbank Ca, that I think were all built by one builder in the 50s.

[@Casperankinen]

This seems very US-centric as cottages have been a huge part of British culture that was exported everywhere they went. If you look at Peter Rabbit which itself is more than a hundred years old the nostalgic buildings in that were cottages. I think the desire for this runs deeper than anything after modern architecture provides, really it’s seen as a place of warmth, security, independence and simplicity, which is why cues back to colonial/frontier buildings are still found in many new builds. Just as the rich want buildings that make them feel like a king thus, have castle cues, people grab at symbols of safety, innocence and aspiration from the experiences of their youth. Whilst I like the attempts to join it to Heidegger that’s putting the cart before the horse; we don’t have to get so highfalutin about it.

[@lex6819]

You are right! I'm American, and I kept waiting for him to mention Beatrix Potter, or Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility, to no avail....

[@richardkent6608]

Hello, I completely agree here. Im sure Stewart knows a vast amount more than I do about architecture but my English mind couldn't help but linger on each example of an American cottage and not be able to put the word and image together. It may just be a language thing, but having grown up in rural England a cottage to me has a very particular look and meaning. Ofcourse the essence of a cottage like so many cultural things has been exported and adopted around the world but I agree there is a weird lack of a proper explanation of origin. I see the American examples and a fair few of the other European examples and the words that spring to mind are cabin or shack. Which to me is a very different kind of dwelling. Cottages to me are at the end of winding roads nestled in a small hamlet. Cabins are on the edge of lakes and vast forests. Your comments about warmth and security etc are spot on. Beyond the very particular aesthetic I cant shake off, this is the key to the idea of a proper cottage.

[@itsgoingtobeok-justbreathe4808]

He never said this was a world-wide survey of cottagecore; Stewart's area of expertise is mostly American architecture, and even more specialized than that, it seems Chicago architecture. He did mention European cottages but as a reference for how they created interest in the US.

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

Well thank you. Wasn't really sure to call me skillion masonry earth ship type cottage. With timber frame and old world masonry kitchen. With the typical earth ship green house. Lots of cast iron and coffee cups. Picnic table built for a giant gives that small feeling like looking at the ocean. Hand dug my piers and foundation. Milling my own post. Buying the beams and glulam some. Slate masonry floor. Handicap 3 foot doors. Hope to live there as long as possible should be finished by next summer. Or at least for bear/deer camp. Cottagecore no kid left indoors. Graveyards are great places to see how stones weather in given area.

[@bentz98125]

Brilliant! Love how you casually weave so many threads into a seamless fabric. Testament to how central achitecture is in life. What a different note from the raging "mid-century modern" fashion (which I grew up thinking of as "the boring 50's"). But on the other hand, easy to envision Don Draper pulling up to a lake cottage for a weekend getaway.

[@olivier.gauthier]

"Subscribe to the channel if you're that kind of person" I'm not really that kind of person but the lack of pressure you put on us to do so kind of weirdly made me want to do it. So, subscribed! I discovered your channel not too long ago and all I can say is that you've provided genuinely interesting videos and I like your take on the subjects. I just quit my job to go back to school (at nearly 40yr old) to study architecture and you are kind of showing me I made the right decision! :)

[@Graham-ce2yk]

I remember seeing a storybook design in a scanned copy of a 1930s magazine, called 'American Builder' if I remember the title correctly. That was put out by the William Radford architectural firm of Chicago. They specialized in 'plan books' which were sold through various building supply companies. The idea being that a prospective home owner would see a design they liked in the book, the William Radford company would design the house from the plan to fit the site and the supply company who sold (or gave away) the plan book would be the one to supply the materials. The whole plan book industry and the related kit home industry might be worth a video.

[@Rosarium2007]

I think Sears’ mail order homes alone would fill at least one whole episode.

[@Trisador9]

Wonderfully researched, told, filmed (and lit!), and super interesting topics. These just keep getting better and better, thank you!

[@uhuhuhuhuhuh3537]

Great video as always, Stewart! While it's not really a "cabin in the woods" in the conventional sense, I think Carl Jung's Bollingen Castle is also worthy of mention, given that it's purpose was to allow Jung to retreat from civilization and think more clearly and purposefully.

[@the_resourceful]

If only in the mind, I believe most like the idea of their own safe, warm, cozy (escape) cottage. Even a tent and a camp site is like a cozy cottage on the cheap.☺

[@liv97497]

I think as much as we romanticize the style and the look of cottagecore, there's some things that are real and you yearn for those much more than just the aesthetic. For myself, there's things I hate about living in the city, about my apartment that barely gets any sunlight (which means my plants inevitably die, try as I might to help them thrive), about the crappy air that I breathe and the fact that I can pretty much see inside my neighbor's bedroom. To make it worse, I *have* previously lived in a tiny little town with an actual forest just behind my house. I miss how quiet it is, I miss the fact the dogs have room to run around, I miss sitting on the deck when the weather is nice, I miss waking up with the sunlight coming in through my window. Plus, I *like* pretty things. I enjoyed living in a beautiful place - sometimes, it can really make your day. I loved that I could see the seasons changing, and that when I looked outside my window what I saw made me want to paint it. I don't think I was actually a different person, it's just that as a creative person, living in a place that inspires you.. that's the dream.

[@itsgoingtobeok-justbreathe4808]

real cottages often had small windows and low ceilings and so were quite dark inside. Also they were not insulated and likely cold and damp, and therefore moldy. Some things really are better as a fantasy

[@liv97497]

@itsgoingtobeok-justbreathe4808 lucky for me, I am an architect :) we have the technology and availability of resources today to make the necessary changes to live with comfort.

[@grocerbear9700]

Great video! you do a great job presenting broad ideas in a simple way so we have a paths to follow and research ourselves. I was looking forward to you bringing Thomas Kinkade into the discussion, talk about cottagecore!

[@stewarthicks]

Mmm, you’re right. Good one. Maybe a follow up video.

[@ivandossev]

Thank you for making these videos.

[@michaelgreenslade7260]

Thanks for covering this

[@padurariustefan1023]

Funny Wes Anderson tribute! Very good content! Thanks!

[@juliahelland6488]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing this ❤

[@LunarEclipsism1]

I live in Los Angeles in the film industry and have often been charmed by the whimsy of the Storybook houses dotted around the city, and I'll admit that I have been guilty of many a trip up to various cabins and cottages in the mountains for some indulgent cottagecore "get away from it all" retreats, so this video resonated a lot, haha. One development I'd noticed that might be worth mentioning is the rise of an aesthetic that, to me, very clearly intends to borrow the strongest appeal of both of these styles in an overt way. I'm sure someone else has coined the phrase but in browsing airbnb's I've seen a huge proliferation of what I can only describe as "hobbitcore" architecture, dwellings that very overtly attempt to ape the aesthetic of the pastoral homes (inhabited by hobbits) shown in the Lord of the Rings films of the early 2000s. Round doors and windows, turf roofs (or imitation turf roofs) and all. These structures have all of the Hollywood "fakery" of storybook homes, all drawing from the same literal storybook, but laser-focused on a series of film sets in the New Zealand countryside that were built specifically to evoke all of the cozy comfort of English cottages. The "Hobbiton" sets were distilled cottagecore appeal filtered through the lens of medieval fantasy, and for many builders looking to entice visitors for retreats it's an obvious choice. I see tons of Hobbit homes booked out for months and years in advance as people clamor to rent them for short getaways. We're already stepping out into a bit of make-believe and playing a role, escaping our current reality when we go out to a cottage. What this style seems to ask is "why not escape to Middle Earth?"

[@brianflynn2791]

Is there such a thing as "Frontiercore" ? I would love to see love the 'actual' wooden early homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

[@Goblins_are_rad]

I think "farmhouse" is more along the lines of "frontier core", with butter churns and wagon wheels as decoration.

[@smrooke]

Heard you on the Chad and Steve Podcast, first video I watched of yours and was very pleased thanks for the content. Looking forward to watching your other videos.

[@Sam-rf8yh]

Incredible video. Thank you!

[@shigemorif1066]

Oh no, I absolutely love the storybook style cottage...I had no idea it had such a contrived origin. lol. Still love it! Great video!

[@Zincink]

Thanks for sharing this history.

[@GhostedStories]

Absolutely, fascinating!

[@ClimbingEasy]

8:08 Harry Oliver also coined the term 'Desert Rat' as well.

[@Curiouscrazy]

you videos are a joy. Architecture isn't something I even think about, but you've made it so interesting and insightful! keep making videos, i've subscribed and have been binging on your videos.

[@Nostalg1a]

In the end people that realize that life is more than fast food and they want a home that doesn’t look like a concrete box. Be it kitsch or not, it has character and a soul.

[@getrealnow73]

Thank you again for the great and entertaining education

[@marcdefaoite]

The Thoreau-Kaczynski quip made me snort tea.

[@98perova]

Great video! Funny I've come upon this after being given Heidegger to read at architecture school.

[@stewarthicks]

The algorithm knows…

[@MrTandtrollet]

This video made me want to take a trip outside the city.

[@stewarthicks]

Do it!

[@XX-zk2lf]

Marie Antoinette's cottage at Versailles is super cute.

[@christophernoneya4635]

As someone who lives in the "Cottage Country" in Canada, its kinda weird to see. Cottages have always seemed like a temporary thing that the wealthy used, Southerners or even Americans would come up and rent it to escape from their city life for a while with their spare money or maybe lease one or something along those lines. Its like if someone told you they had a summer home, you just kinda know they come from a different world than you. I like the idea of escapism and sustainability but from my understanding Cottages and their industry can be pretty unsustainable and detrimental to "local" (everythings far apart, a town 3 hours away could be local) infrastructure. Sure 1 Cottage doesnt really effect the local ecosystem as much as a settlement, but there are cottage villages or entire watersystems dominated by them, they can be closer to resorts than a chill cabin in the woods some times. I do love the way the aesthetic looks and the idea behind it, but a lot of it just seems like romantization and escapism which there of course is nothing wrong with. Its just kind of odd from my perspective, but I have to admit if I were rich I would 100% rather buy my own cottage deep into the wilderness instead of a gaudy mansion

[@strangeweather8827]

Huh. I had no clue about the phenomenology-derived style. The words "cottage" or "cabin" conjure in me a commercial image. The structure which embodies a certain kind of fantasy in pursuit of a relationship with nature or a relationship with oneself. Glad to hear of a more thoughtful rendering.

[@xiaodongwang7753]

Excellent talk

[@cajoncitodecosas]

Love this! Working on the field type of videos

[@stewarthicks]

Always testing my comfort zone and technical abilities. There are more field videos coming. Glad you like it.

[@ttaaddoo111]

A note on Heidegger: I have understood it so that authenticity, or Eigentlichkeit which is supposed to be the word he actually used (and more appropriately be translated as "actuality", I think), is never a fixed state nor a goal. It is at most a momentary shift away from our usual, somewhat automated everyday living, in which we're especially in tune with Being and the world in some of its innumerable aspects.

[@stewarthicks]

Thanks for the clarification

[@kellyshannon18]

Fantastic topic - so timely. But… no mention of the mid-century tract iteration (Cinderella homes)? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on those. (Love that you chose a pic of Charles Moore with Austin architectural icons in the background).

[@Confuseddave]

"One is built from a desire for genuine and authentic reconnection with nature, and the other is just a hollywood stage set, built for novelty and spectacle." I know you kind of unpacked that a bit in the next sentence, but I feel like there's a pretty sharp value judgement in there that goes unexamined; if I learned anything from Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi it's to be a bit less reflexive in dismissing the apparently superficial. Ducks and decorated sheds, and all that.

[@Velnias8]

I think it should be noted that Heidegger hut looked very different when he was alive. It looked more rustic, white bricks were covered with wood. Overall it looked more like a cabin

[@MissAndreaChavez]

Excellent content, thank you for sharing!

[@parparparmesan6368]

Love your videos as always Stewart!! 😍 Your work done on these videos are improving since the early videos I have seen and as always, have very interesting topics to see, hear and learn from :)

[@stewarthicks]

Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying the videos!

[@DZstudios.]

Didn’t know Frank’s son made those Timber toy houses

[@glockman1727ak47]

Love me that Wood paneling. I know lot of people hate it.

[@quentin-_-99]

It came out beautifully 🖤 🌹

[@michaelroark2019]

There is an important dimension to the story or popularity of the cottage movement that is missing in the presentation and that is the profound influence in America during the late nineteenth century of the Tudor Revival style from England. It begin in England in the early to mid nineteenth century as a part of the Romantic movement. It had a number of expressions in gardening as well as architecture. The emphasis was on being more natural. Fundamentally it rejected formality coming from the ancient Greek and Roman design tradition. The design aesthetic was heavily oriented to being asymmetrical. I interprete the Storybook style as a coming from that design conception, even though it is a highly exaggerated form of Tudor Revival. Of course, in a short video the complexity of a style must be simplified but the whole Tudor Revival movement was quite widespread throughout the country and needs to be included.

[@lewisjames5677]

such a good video

[@dmiller9786]

Great video. In the Chicago area R. Harold Zook is a notable example..

[@stewarthicks]

Definitely. I toured a house of his...way cool...

[@sciencerscientifico310]

There's just something nostalgic about cottages, whether they be the wattle-and-daub cottages with thatched roofs that peasants lived in during the medieval era, little Italian villas, Even up to the craftsman bungalows and cottages of the early 20th century. I guess it's some form of escapism, many urbanites want to get away from the rat race of corporate culture, constant traffic jams, an astronomical cost of living, etc. There's a nostalgia for the pre-industrial lifestyles of farmers, even though the lifestyle involved long hours of backbreaking labor for little reward, and that pre-industrial farmers had few comforts ( except for the aristocratic farmers like southern planters ).

[@drewburt]

wonderful!

[@roqueperezpareja957]

Yasss cottagecore would also love a video about experimtal architecturee organic stuff architecture of the future 😍😍 all of ittt anyways much love great videos - current architecture student📖📖📚

[@thesawguy]

Keep up the great work!

[@actontreadway1168]

Mark my words: Thomas Kinkaid will go down in history as the greatest architect of our time.

[@marquamfurniture]

Seconds after seeing this video, I suddenly received an ad for farmhouse furniture.

[@Dev1nci]

Wasn’t subbed yet 🤦🏽‍♂️, Sorry Stewart, love your vids 👌👏🏽

[@ozarkharshnoisescene]

we need a video on st Louis architecture

[@edi9892]

I really love *Fachwerk* (timber frame waddle and daub structures). Built well, they can last centuries and survive earthquakes and floods (and they are more fire-resistant than log cabins). I'd like to point out that some places in Asia got remarkably similar designs, especially Japan and Korea. The latter has really beautiful cottages called *Hanok.* This brings me to a related concept: *Veranda* or *Engawa.* They also give us a connection to the outside, and allow for a smoother transition to indoors. You can sit and breathe fresh air and sip tea without getting wet in the rain. Lastly, having a cottage with garden can be an actual retreat, not just from your everyday stress, and noise pollution, but actually, if electricity fails, you can sit at a warm fireplace and eat your own food, as fresh as it can be and you exactly know the quality... PS: if someone is familiar with Japanese garden design, and level design in computer games, he should notice some striking similarities when it comes to creating scenery. It can help make a garden look bigger, but also keep it from becoming overwhelming without making it too apparent that the place follows some strict rules, rather than growing freely.

[@NiceOrbit]

Are there any other famous storybook architecture buildings like the witch's house? It seems like a lot could be done with the strange exterior shapes and warped roof patterns Thank you so much for making these videos. I look forward to them every week.