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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Cabins, Cottages AND Summer Homes: Bernard S. Mason and Frederic H. Kock

This Goodwill find was $2.99.  It's copyrighted date: 1947.
You can read or listen to this book for free on this website:
https://archive.org/stream/cabinscott00maso.
The illustrations are SO COOL! See below. It looks like Bernard is the author, and Frederic, the illustrator. They have several books in the same genre...all vintage. This second on Amazon, there's a used copy going for $8.00 http://amzn.to/1r1MxTT.

I'm very familiar with the term "Cabin". "Cottage" and "Summer Home" aren't typical terms I hear or use often, except when I'm browsing Trulia: http://www.trulia.com; They often use "Cottage" to describe homes for sale; most of them are out of my price range, and are located in highly desirable Phoenix neighborhoods, such as Encanto.  So I guess, by "browse" I really mean "drool".  I think it's neat though because with all this Mid-Century Modern stuff going on, it's refreshing to see the Cottage style, still in style, still going strong.  There are tons of Houzz articles on Cottages.
I took a Houzz Quiz about what style of house I should live in, fully expecting Cottage or Ranch but apparently...I should live in a Colonial Revival type house...who would've thought?

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/29914917/list/houzz-quiz-what-style-of-house-should-you-live-in

An article in Houzz by Becky Dietrich defines a Cottage as any single-family home with square footage around 1200.

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/27105525/list/8-benefits-of-cottage-living.

I agree that that is one of the things so charming about cottages, is their small footprint; They're all about quality over quantity...and they're so darn cute!!


As far as Summer Homes go: Wikipedia says they are vacation homes people have "For relaxation in warm weather" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_house.  Ah! No wonder, this concept has eluded me!  From where I hail, surviving the "warm" weather with some grace, is a mark of heroism.  As a native of Phoenix, AZ I take pride in being one of those people who says: "You're complaining about 100 degree weather; try 118".  My husband can recall the exact circumstances surrounding the record breaking 122 degree temp on June 26th, 1990.  Somehow we all survived; yet this is coming from someone who owns an "I survived the Great Phoenix Haboob, July, 2011" T-shirt.  I guess we all need something to complain or boast about.

Although, not to minimize the dangers of the home of the Phoenix Suns. Skin cancer is a major problem and issue, which I know personally.  I'm a skin cancer survivor and still don't utilize sunscreen like I should.  Sad face.  I digress.

So, I think the point I'm making here is. When I win the lottery, I'm moving to a cottage in Encanto, donating resources to skin cancer research, and buying a cabin in the high country.  I might as well rip the Summer Home pages out of this book for their beautiful illustrations and make them into art.  I can live vicariously through those who need a break from the cold...not that I envy freezing temps...that's why I live here! Sheesh!

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