From the blog

Farmhouse vs Cottage House Names (And How to Tell Which One You Are)

Most people get stuck on house names for the same reason. They have a feeling in their head and no words for it. Here's a shortcut. Almost every good house name leans one of two ways, farmhouse or cottage, and once you know which one you are, the list of options gets a lot shorter and a lot easier.

What makes a name sound farmhouse

Farmhouse names are wide. They borrow from land, weather, work and distance. Think fields, gates, creeks, barns, orchards, the view out the back. They usually use a plain noun with no softening on it: Farm, House, Barn, Field, Hill, Gate. Nothing precious, nothing tiny.

A farmhouse name works even if you have no farm. If your house sits on a slope, faces a big sky, has a gravel drive, a workshop, or a dog that runs somewhere, it reads farmhouse.

What makes a name sound cottage

Cottage names are small and soft. They borrow from plants, birds, herbs and the words you'd use for something you love. The word Cottage does a lot of the work, but so do single plant names on their own: The Lilacs, Fern House, Thyme House.

A cottage name suits a smaller footprint, a front garden, window boxes, a low ceiling, a place that feels tucked in rather than spread out. Apartments and rentals land here often, and they should. A third floor flat with two herb pots on the sill is a cottage.

The quick test

Say this out loud: "Come to ______ for dinner on Saturday." If the name makes people picture a long table, boots by the door and something roasting, you're farmhouse. If it makes them picture a small kitchen, a candle and good bread, you're cottage. Both are the right answer. You only need to know which one you're going for so the rest of it matches.

What changes after you pick

Everything downstream gets easier. Farmhouse wants a heavier typeface on your sign, a deeper color, a scent like cedar or woodsmoke, sunflowers or branches in the entry. Cottage wants a lighter serif, a soft color, lavender or linen, and a small jar of whatever is blooming. Same method, different volume.

What if you're somewhere in between

Then borrow the structure and use your own word. Take the thing your house actually has, the tree, the bird, the street, the grandmother it came from, and pair it with the noun that matches your volume. Pear plus Farm. Wren plus Cottage. That formula has been making decent house names for about four hundred years and it still works.

Want the big list? Browse 120+ house name ideas with a random name generator, or get the full Kit and do the whole thing in an afternoon.