This home is typical of the cottage style. In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all (cf. vicarage or hermitage). In the United Kingdom the term cottage also tends to denote rural dwellings of traditional build, although it can also be applied to dwellings of modern construction which are designed to resemble traditional ones ("mock cottages").

Some of the features of this home are 'European'. European homes come in many guises, since the term reflects homes styled after those in many countries; English Tudor, French Country, and Dutch Gable, to name a few. Beyond the country of origin, there's also the period of history from which the style emerged; Georgian, Victorian, Greek Revival; the list is almost endless. The homes shown in the collection below feature elements inspired by those found in countries across the Atlantic.

The storybook style is a whimsical nod toward Hollywood design technically called Provincial Revivalism, and embodies much of what we see in fairy-tale storybooks, stage plays and in our favorite dreams.

Common Features of our Storybook Homes:

• The exterior finish is predominately stucco, often rough troweled, and frequently with half-timbering. Exteriors also feature rubble stone, crazed brick, or clinker brick; all-stone, all-brick, and all-wood construction are sometimes used. Turrets with conical roofs are a common feature, as are faux dovecotes.
• Walls can be sloped or curving, hand made or organic looking; wing walls are not uncommon.
• Rooflines are usually curved in some way—swaybacked, sagged, concave, undulating or sharply pointed; gables are usually jerkinhead or very sharply pointed; eaves are often rolled; use of catslides is common. Roofs are commonly finished with wooden shingles, wooden shakes, or slate laid down in a seawave or other intentionally irregular pattern; though the original materials have frequently been replaced over time, the irregular pattern is sometimes imitated in the more modern material.
• Round-topped or batten, often with a speakeasy - doors are frequently set in an arched frame lined with stone; when a turret is present, the building's front door typically opens into this. Windows are usually wood-framed with leaded or wavy glass installed; figural insets of stained glass are not uncommon. Wrought iron door hinges, handles, knockers, and locksets are common, as are other wrought iron embellishments.
• Most [Storybook Homes](/houseplans/style/storybook) are fairly small and are based upon a fanciful interpretation of medieval European homes, or traditional English cottage style. Larger storybook homes are often constructed to appear as though built up gradually over time, one addition at a time, or built primarily out of stone with battlements and turrets to resemble a castle.
• As befits their faux-rural heritage, many storybook homes are surrounded by trees and shrubbery. The greenery can conceal many homes from the casual observer, and reflect the 'cottage in the woods' setting of many homes in storybooks.