Cozy and Comfortable Dream Mountain Retreat
A crackling fireplace, steaming hot chocolate, and comfy couches with fluffy pillows. “These are a few of my favorite things” to find in our cozy mountain cottage! In my head.
Confession #1. We have never gotten around to making hot chocolate to sip in front of the living room fireplace. I actually have to remember to bring some up next time we go.
Confession #2. We have never lit our living room fireplace because it hasn’t been serviced. It wasn’t a priority among our other cottage projects. And we just don’t want to run the risk of turning it on before we have it checked out professionally.
Confession #3. Our couch is comfy enough but I keep forgetting to get more fluffy pillow inserts. I did remember to bring up my sewing machine to start making cute pillow covers though! And also my Cricut Maker (cutting machine) to apply some cozy mountain and lake themed decals! They’re all on my to-do list.
Mountain Cottage Cozy. It’s All in the Vibe.
So no steaming hot chocolate. No crackling fireplace in our living room. Just two semi-fluffy pillows and a really warm and comfy blanket I made last winter.
But I must say, I have grown to love more and more each day the knotty pine planks on the ceiling and part of a wall. They remind me I’m at our restful retreat. The undeniably stunning view certainly provides that image of coziness as well.
Other than that, everything else is clean and tidy but the house is due for a fresh coat of paint–inside and outside. The house itself doesn’t necessarily ooze personality. And yet, I find our new mountain cottage to be absolutely charming and wonderfully cozy.
To me, it’s the vibe and energy we bring to the place. It’s our joy and laughter that makes our cottage cozy and ours. The personalized accessories of handmade blankets for the couch and extra pillows and such are just bonus items!
Because at the end of the day, it’s what we make of it. The precious time we spend together in the snow, playing with the drone capturing captivating images and praying the drone doesn’t end up in the oak trees with our woodpecker friends. It’s also about watching movies on our couch I have yet to make pillows for. And enjoying home cooked meals with all of us sitting around the dinner table discussing our dreams and who would be on dish duty that evening.
Not An A-Frame Cabin
Eventually, I’ve noticed, others start to comment that our cottage (both houses actually) is so inviting and homey.
I feel this is an important distinction to make. Often we get caught up in the appearance of things. The image we have in our head we feel we must achieve in order to place the correct label on it, like chic, cozy, or opulent.
I’m guilty of this too. In fact, when we started our mountain home search, I had a very specific image in my mind that I had seen in magazines and blogs.
When we narrowed in on the San Bernardino Mountains as the location for our second home, we set our hearts on a really cool A-frame cabin or one with a Gambrel roof.
If you’ve never heard of these descriptors, A-frame cabins are often found in mountain towns and are shaped like a triangle. Usually a loft divides the abundance of space between the floor and the pointed ceiling, adding to its charm.
Gambrel-roof cabins have a Darth Vader look to them. That’s what I think anyway. It’s an acquired taste, at least for me. But cabins with this type of roof are also typical of the San Bernardino Mountain towns.
So of course, that’s what we were stuck on at first, finding the perfect A-frame or Gambrel-roof cabin.
However, we soon came to realize we had a very limited perspective on the perfect mountain escape. It didn’t allow us to see the charm in “what could be” and we were possibly missing out on a lot of opportunities.
We changed our mindset one weekend and that consequently opened up so many more options.
Charming Cottage Bungalow
What began as our quest to find the already delightful cozy A-frame and Gambrel-roof mountain cabin ended up quite differently as it often does. If you allow it. Instead what captured our attention and eventually our hearts was a completely nondescript mocha-colored house.
To call it a cozy cottage was a stretch, but I decided that if we didn’t see it as such, it would never come to be.
The road that leads to the cottage winds up from a main road that skirts the lake. It narrows at times and eventually straightens as it passes through a group of homes and approaches the cottage.
A small cabin flanks one side. The lot on the other side of our cottage remains vacant. The front of the cottage faces a hill which gives the illusion of isolation when in fact, it’s not. But it does feel serenely private.
Street parking amply spans the front of the house, a coveted quality in the mountains I have come to discover. The driveway deck leads to a one-car garage and another deck to the front door.
I learned another thing about mountain homes, particularly for houses built on a down slope. A big wooden deck acts as the driveway that unites the road to the house. That means it requires treatment and upkeep different from regular asphalt driveways.
But back to our not-so-cozy looking house. At least at first glance.
As I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing special about the front of the house. No particular curb appeal although it’s not ugly either. It’s just there.
Cottage by the Lake
Cozy Cottage Tour Main Living Area
But as you open the front door is when I think the enchantment begins. Because the inside, contrary to what you see on the outside is where you start to sense the true potential charm of the place.
The foyer, the slightly sunken living room, and the view of the mountains and lake from the windowed wall captivates you the moment you step inside. And this was a huge selling point for us.
When I first saw the inviting fireplace, visions of us with hot chocolate sitting in front of it playing backgammon on the coffee table danced in my head. Well we know how that has turned out. We also don’t know how to play backgammon either. But I’m committing to learning it since we have it!
The cottage came fully furnished, which is why we have a backgammon board/coffee table in our living room in front of our inviting fireplace. The fully furnished part quickly became an attractive feature since it meant we could avoid the hassle of furnishing the place or having to haul furniture up the mountain.
Plus, relatively speaking, the craftsman style furniture in the living room and the classic style kitchen and dining room were in fair condition. Some pieces just needed a little bit of TLC and personalization.
The half bathroom is conveniently tucked away at the foyer level but is easily accessible. Quite surprisingly, the lake view greets you when you exit the bathroom and immediately brings a smile to your face. It does to me each time.
Cozy Cottage Tour Lower Bedroom Area
To our pleasant surprise, the three bedrooms downstairs greeted us warmly with newly laundered bed linens on each bed the first night we stayed at the cottage. We brought our own sheets, not knowing what we would actually find.
The master bedroom suite boasts its own fireplace that we have used since it is completely gas powered. No burning logs involved. I love to turn it on during our snowy winter. I just have to flip the switch and voilà! So convenient! And it heats up the bedroom nice and toasty pretty quickly.
There are two closets. One is a full-sized walk-in closet we have all used as a makeshift office during the pandemic. The other closet is what we call the Harry Potter room since it’s the enclosed space under the stairs.
The French doors open to our second balcony also overlooking the lake. I love this room.
The other two bedrooms share a bathroom in the hallway. And at the other end of the cottage on the same floor is the laundry room. For a mountain cottage/second home, it is ample in size yet still uniquely homey.
We have since connected with the previous owners who gave us much insight into the cottage and some of its little quirks. She didn’t know all of them so some things about the cottage remain a mystery, like the hidden little room behind the chimney!
What we discovered is that until the last moment the previous owners had possession of the house, they rented out the cottage to short-term renters. And that explains the freshly laundered sheets and cleanliness we found. Truly, that first night it felt like we were staying at a AirBNB, one we technically would never have to leave.
Welcome to Acorns Cottage, our mountain cottage by the lake! One we love to make more and more cozy each day.
