21 Cottage Style Homes With Irresistible Charm | Homes To Love (2024)

Almost equally as beautiful as this charming weatherboard (dubbed Oak Cottage), are the gardens that surround it. Designed by Tim Pilgrim, who specialises in naturalistic cottage gardens, the landscape was designed to provide six “scenes” throughout the year, as flowers die off and bring forth new growth.

This sweet cottage offers its guests the best of slow country living. Dubbed Lottes Hjem (after its former owner), the home is full of pieces collected at op shops and antique stores. “We’re inspired by a typically European style, mainly French and Italian, so we’re always looking for pieces that add to this feel.”

Surrounded by fruit trees and delicate florals, this pink cottage in Queensland’s Toowoomba is full of much-loved vintage finds that remind the owner of her grandmothers, Eleanor and Ruby. “So much of the garden, the summer house and the main house are built on them and my love for vintage,” shares Leisa, who created the space alongside her husband, Serge.

Intoxicating star jasmine tumbles over the verandah at this country cottage in the Upper Hunter region. The original timber homestead was constructed in the late 1950s and purchased by Annie Bell off her parents in 1999. “I wanted to create a comfortable, functional home, with some lovely spaces to come home to,” she says.

Once “wildly dilapidated” and hidden behind a thick screen of overgrown ivy, this quaint cottage in the tiny town of Dry Diggings in Victoria was rescued by the loving and respectful hands of Sarah and Ben Fraser. “There’s something magic about the sense of history at the property,” says Sarah, 36. “It’s like stepping into another world.”

Nestled in the heart of NSW’s historic town of Berry, this light-filled cottage makes for the perfect weekend country escape. Dubbed Sinclairs of Berry, the property is imbued with the personality of its creator, with no shortage of homely touches. “We designed and built the house to one day live in ourselves,” explains Caroline Sinclair, who makes a point of greeting all of her guests upon arrival.

In Queensland’s Toowoomba, this grandmillennial pink cottage underwent the transformation of a lifetime. Once a quaint corner shop, owner Caitlyn Mason did everything she could to maintain and honour the property’s origins. “I have a huge passion for old, historic buildings in Toowoomba. I try to keep everything I can, as I don’t like changing history,” she says.

Garden designer Tim Pilgrim took great care when crafting and creating the spaces surrounding The Estate Trentham, a gorgeous three bedroom Federation home owned by Lynda Gardener. As functional as it is beautiful, the garden spaces include kitchen gardens, fruit trees, and places for gathering, striking the perfect balance between planned spaces and a wilding meadow. “Most gardeners seem to choose one thing that they’re good at and specialise in that, but I like being across it all,” says Tim.

This charming 1910s cottage in the charming town of Picton, south-west of Sydney, is the home of professional globetrotters, Brent Wallace and Dan Ingram,plus their Golden Retriever, Abby. A home that has kept them rooted in Australia for more time than ever before, the pair have formed a deep sense of love and attachment to this gorgeous home, which plays host to their huge catalogue of keepsakes collected on their travels.

Situated on the flat farming country of the Liverpool Plains in NSW sits Little Kickerbell, a historic homestead that is nothing short of idyllic. Within reside Cathy Armstrong, spoodle Dixie, and Rowen Matthews, a prize winning artist. Together, the couple are besotted with their country change; Rowen drawn out every evening by sunsets at dusk and Cathy adoring the perfect sense of adventure the move has brought.

Built in the 1880s as a residence for the township’s primary school principal, this home had been transported by bullock dray to the farm property in the 1940s. It’s new owners have brought the cottage back to life as a well as the property, a former apple orchard which is now an organic permaculture produce garden, a small-scale orchard, a nursery and an education centre, known as Black Barn Farm.

Tucked behind a hedgerow in the town of Bowral, NSW, this vibrant weatherboard cottage is hard to miss with its dark exterior and sunny yellow front door. Inside, the owners have refurbished the home with white walls, dark floors and a vast collection of art and textiles.

Not all cottages are made from weatherboard or timber. This 1890s farm cottage in Capertee Valley, NSW, is made from sandstone, which is common for colonial homes. Many of the heritage features of this home have been restored and modern additions like a new bathroom and flooring have brought the old girl back to life.

A glass extension has opened up this Southern Highlands cottage, creating more room, a better connection with the outdoors and flooding the home with natural light. A sliding glass door spans the width extension, rolling right back to open the house to the garden and views beyond. “When we built this, it killed every other room in the house!” homeowner Michael says.

This classic Victorian weatherboard cottage in Riddels Creek near the Macedon Ranges has been lovingly restored by photographer and Country Style contributor Marnie Hawson and her husband. Adjacent to the 1890s house was a tiny cottage, formerly Riddels Creek post office – where Marnie’s photography studio is now situated.

This weatherboard farmhouse at Hart’s Farm on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has been given a new lease on life with a modern timber extension. Architect Claire Scorpo has done a brilliant job of blending the old with new, connecting entrance to the original house to the new bedroom wing with a slatted timber walkway.

The owner of this white weatherboard cottage in rural Victoria repurposed these white gates to enclose her verandah. “They’re from my grandfather’s farm and were on the sheep-drafting race – I remember hanging off them as a little girl,” she says.

This 100-year-old cottage in Newrybar near Byron Bay was turned into a guesthouse and gallery, having belonged to a local florist for 25 years. Once the manse of a church, the weatherboard house features original wooden floors, pretty fretwork details and a tiled front verandah.

The pretty, white-painted facade of horticulturalist Natasha Morgan’s 1800s-era timber cottage in Spargo Creek, Victoria. The building was once a rural post office that the couple have transformed into a beautiful home with French-inspired style.

Sandy McKinley knew she had found her home as soon as she saw her 1860s cottage in Trentham, 95 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. It was 2007 when Sandy bought a cottage on a rambling block of land that she now calls Acre of Roses — referring to the romantic garden of some 1500 perfumed roses that she has planted in the paddock behind the house.