Thoughtfully designed and affordable to build, this home illustrates cabin living at its best. It?s the perfect hideaway for the lake or mountains, with a design that combines compactness and rustic styling. An adorable front porch is just the place to set up a couple of chairs?or maybe a hanging swing?and take a load off your heels. Inside, the open living room enjoys a fireplace, windows along three walls, and a set of French doors that open to a screened porch at the back. With warmth wafting over from the living room and the soothing smells of dinner being prepared in the adjoining kitchen, the dining room offers a place to settle down at the end of the day. A spacious rear bedroom makes use of the main floor?s full bath. Upstairs, a second bedroom enjoys a roomy sleeping area, plus its own private bath. more

The Brunswick Cottage's simple charm comes from a clever mix of exterior materials and sense of form and function. Cedar shingles and wooden brackets accent the peaked gables of the home while additional details like decorative wood paneling below the windows, a standing seam metal roof and the stone chimney add the crowning touches. The heart of this cottage is the galley-style kitchen and casual dining area thoughtfully designed as one integrated space. Windows let natural light fill the room and offer views at every turn. The home's interior feels open and inviting with the abundance of windows and a lofty two-story family room. A deep front porch and screened porch off of the rear of the home make the outdoor spaces a natural extension of the home. The second level of the home offers two spacious bedrooms and a full bath. The large secondary bedroom is ideal for sharing this home with weekend guests. more

In many areas of the Lower South, French and Spanish influences blended to form a unique house type-the Creole cottage. Borrowing freely from European styles, early settlers on the Gulf Coast gradually modified the design to adapt to the warm, humid climate. Although born in towns from New Orleans to Mobile, the Creole cottage also appeared in the interior South, where the Greek Revival style influenced it. The symmetry, center-hall plan, and exterior chimney are characteristic of this influence. Like its predecessors, our Creole Cottage is raised slightly to place the living areas above the damp ground. A steep, gabled roof sheds subtropical rains; the roof's pitch breaks slightly to cover a wide gallery on the front. Six slender columns support the gallery roof and a balustrade. Long, shuttered windows on the lower level combine with round-top windows in the dormers to define the regional look. The house offers about 1,650 square feet of heated space, with approximately 360 additional square feet in the deck and gallery. The plan contains a combination living/dining room to the left of the foyer. Our Creole Cottage house plan was designed by William H. Phillips, Jr., of Dauphin Island, Alabama. more

A curving balustrade leads guests up to the shady gallery of our Gulf Coast Cottage. Raised high on brick piers to keep its owners cool and dry, this cottage attractively reminds you of the traditional Lowcountry homes of the South. A high hipped roof covers the gallery that wraps three sides of the house. The broad, deep gallery forms a functional cool zone around the front of the house and works with transomed double doors to help ventilate the house naturally. The plan includes 3 bedrooms and 21/2 baths in approximately 2,500 square feet of heated space. It offers the formality typical of older Southern homes and a semiopen floor plan often associated with today's houses. For example, the living room, center hall, and dining room may be used separately or as one large room for entertaining. Wide cased openings create one spacious sweep of space, while the perimeter gallery affords spillover space for parties. Ceiling heights are 10 feet throughout the house. The working plans for the cottage include a separate double garage with a similar look. Our Gulf Coast Cottage was designed by William H. Phillips, Jr., of Dauphin Island, Alabama. more