Does Your Cottage Have A Name?

Osprey_sign I like cottage names. A good name is evocative, inspiring or downright cute, and looks so much better on a sign than a house number or the surname of the owners. Great names are inspired by an array of sources – trees, animals, locations and views, literature and legends – and can be generated quite easily. Here’s a few ideas:

Trees: Cedar Point, Whispering Pines, The Willows, Woodland Retreat, Tamarack Lodge, Cherry Hollow

Animals and Birds: Osprey Cottage, Squirrel’s Leap, Heron’s Nest, Beaver Creek Cottage, The Bear’s Lair, Loon’s Landing,  Moosewood

Locations & Views: Sunset Hideaway, Lakewood Vista, Beechwood Island, Discovery Villa, Blue Sky Cottage, Farview Cottage, Riverbank Retreat

The sandblasted Osprey Cottage sign was designed by Jude Lean at Riverbend Signs.

What’s your cottage name?

About the author

Heather Bayer

  • I love looking at people’s cottage signs. Our neighbors a few doors down actually had a wooden carving of a bear mounted onto a piece of wood for their sign.

    A few weeks ago, their cottage was broken into and the thieves actually stole their bear!

    We have been wanting to have a sign done for our cottage for a while now and are having difficulty agreeing on a name – my husband who’s last name is Tam wants Tamelot – sigh. I think I’m going to have to give in on this one.

    Cheers,
    Julie

    Julie’s last blog post..Sweet Maple Treats

  • CottageGuru

    Ahhhh….naming a cottage can be a thorny issue. I’ll leave you to that one!

  • I have been dabbling around with names and I came up with 3 good ones. Twilight’s Edge is my number 1 and then Ceders Edge and then Cardinal Cove.

  • When we bought the cottage I knew I wanted to name it. I remember the numerous “Dew-Drop-In” ‘s from my youth. Only after the cottage became known by everyone as Hummingbird Cottage did I discover that hummingbird feeders attracted bees. Because we rent the cottage when we are not using it, all of the feeders had to be removed for liability reasons. I will have to attempt to plant some no-care appropriate flowers.
    Naming a cottage lends it that extra bit of charm and approachability. Boat owners name their boats great names like “Money Pit” . A cottage name tells me about as much about the owner as the cottage.

  • Catherine

    I called ours Daisy Cottage. I just love daisies and they remind me of childhood so I thought it would be a happy name for the house. And we do have lots of daisies growing in the orchard too!

    Unfortunately I have misplaced the pretty enamel sign I had specially made with daisies on it with the name. Bought it when the renovations were being done, put it away ‘somewhere safe’ to put up once house was ready. Still can’t remember where ‘somewhere safe’ is.

  • We are calling ours Narrows Cottage because we are on a narrows or channel that connects two lakes together. We’ve also named our house LongWillows after reading an Agatha Christie book… Catherine I hope you’ve found your sign!

  • When we bought our cottage it already had a name – and going back in records it seems it was named Yew Tree Cottage from when it was built as a farmhouse back in 1750. We’ve been told that 2 big yew trees used to line the entrance path to the cottage, and after our renovations, we put it back the way it was – with 2 x 8ft tall yew trees lining either side of the cottage. Funnily enough, Yew Tree Cottage seems to be quite a popular name for a cottage in the UK with this name hitting 19th out of the top 50 house names in England!

  • CottageGuru

    I love it when a name carries some history!

  • Blue Pearl Cottage and Clamshell cottage I loving having a name for the cottages , it gives the cottages there own idenity

  • Cynthia

    Hi. Our last name is Gietz(pronounced ‘gets’) and we have a cabin at Tie Lake. Thought about ‘Gietz-away Tie’m’ or Tie’m to Gietza-away. Thoughts or ideas?