How to Look at a Cottage – Studies in Visual Cultures

The cottage is an anomaly. It is on the border between city life and complete wilderness. On the one hand, it is there to protect from ongoing wildlife harm, but on the other, it provides a relaxing retreat from all things complicated. The cozy atmosphere of four brick walls, a roof, and a small fireplace for roasting marshmallows, lessens the impact of cool summer nights.

A cottage is a privilege for those who own, or rent, such a luxurious property. The season is a few summer months, where most of one’s journey is spent driving in cottage country traffic. Then, summer ends and the cottage requires cleaning before the owner seals it shut for the harsh winter.

Unknown. Enchanted Cottage. Photograph. © The Enchanted Cottage.

They come in various sizes and shapes; no two cottages are alike. The furniture and the cottage itself reflects the owner’s personality, where the style and design tailor to their particular tastes and preferences. Some cottages can be two stories, appearing like a mansion, hiding in the deep woods, or a house with a few small rooms, sitting on the edge of a slow moving stream. Regardless of appearance, every cottage serves a purpose; to provide the owner with a mini-vacation from the city.

The solitude a cottage provides can be peaceful, setting the mind at ease as one watches the various species of birds perched in the tree tops singing songs of pure happiness. For millennials, however, the cottage drives a wedge between their need for outside communication. But, putting the electronics down and enjoying all nature has to offer, never hurt anyone. While some millennials visit cottage country, the rose bushes, peonies, trees, lakes and creeks attempt to the fill the void left behind by the lack of technology.

Insects will crawl up the walls. Spiders, owls, and the occasional deer will poke their heads out of their den where the visitor can glimpse the enchanting wildlife in a place lacking metal buildings. It is a complete contrast to the skyscrapers, and asphalt highways paved over the Earth’s true colours, desperately trying to be shown in a world full of grey.

Cottages are a true treasure. They are more than a building with a base, a solid infrastructure, and wooden floors in its body. The memories created, in a place so small, but spacious enough for days to run short while the nights become a serenity of star gazing through the leaved branches of an array of trees, are exquisite with a lack of loud noise and booming traffic. The adventures the guest can go on are endless; fatigue being the factor weighing them down on where to go and what to see.

Here, in the woods, it is a moment to relax and ease the mind while enjoying all nature has to offer.

After all, a cottage is a home away from home.

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Works Cited

Elkins, James. How to Use Your Eyes. Routledge, 2000.

Unknown. Untitled Photograph (Enchanted Cottage). The Enchanted Cottage, N.D., http://www.the-enchanted-cottage.com.

Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.