Growing up, I spent my summers at a cottage on a beautiful mountain lake in northeastern Pennsylvania. We never called it anything other 
than “the cottage”. Fourteen years ago, Mike and I purchased our own little place on a lake a little farther north. And, we call it “the cottage”. But visitors all seem to have their own name for it. It’s been called “the lake house” and “the cabin”. I was a bit taken back when one visitor proclaimed, “You have a really
nice shack here.” A nice shack? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? I learned later that she lived in Alaska for years, and that’s just their term for cottage.
We visited Russia a few years ago and were telling a new friend about our cottage. “Oh, you have a dacha!” she exclaimed. Hmmm, ….. dacha. I think I like that. So, what’s your name for a cottage on a lake?
Want to read more about life at the lake? Click here.
Umm…. “Paradise”
ha ha! Well, most days anyway, Nicole.
I agree the term is regional. My Grandparents built a summer home at Hawley Lake in N.E..AZ when I was a child and we all called it ‘The Cabin.’ It wasn’t until I lived in N.E. Pa. that I heard the term cottage, and I loved it! I am amazed at the memories that our cabin contained – we were able to have a family reunion there a few years ago and it brought back so many. It was built on the Navajo Indian Reservation on leased land that had long since not been renewed. Yet, they still rent out our Grandparent’s cabin to the public! During the reunion it was like II heard all the voices and imagined all the goings on of my childhood summers & sometimes winters we spent at Roscoe & Esther’s Cabin:: exploring the high pines & swimming & boating on the lake. What a blessing we can still go there – it has remained as rustic & primative as it was then. The memories – at your cottage & our cabin- that’s the best part, don’t you think; whatever we call it?
I agree; the memories are great! Sounds like you had a great childhood, Lois. I can’t say that I remember your stories about it.
My time spent at Hawley with my grandma were great, Susan, she was my biggest fan! I guess your post stirred up some of those memores.
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We did have the privilege of renting a cottage on the lake when I was growing up – which is the closest we came to owning one. Sigh…. now any lake front property is at such a premium, that it is out of the question. Interestingly enough, most people who do have “cottages”, say they have been in the family for years. Yours is just adorable.
Thanks, Nicole. We bought ours from friends. They were not able to do the work it needed and they wanted someone they knew to have it. It’s been a labor of love.
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My mother in law has a “camp” on Big Webb Pond (seems like a lake it’s so big), in Maine. Same thing as a cottage, different name. One to add to the collection!
I forgot about that one – a friend who was helping to gut the place when we first bought it was videotaping the process and he kept referring to it as a camp!