PHOTO BY MARK MENDEZ
SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT OLD COTTAGES are when you discover unexpected elements that tell the stories of the people who lived in them before. Of the 100 or so homes I’ve been so lucky to style and photograph for Cottages & Bungalows over the years as the editor, I’ve been in some with such special stories. There was a Craftsman that was unusually large compared to its neighbors because, as the homeowners discovered, it had once served as the mayor’s home when the town was first founded over 100 years ago. There was one Victorian cottage with the most stunning picture window, which the owners later learned once served as the storefront for a dentist’s office; he had lived in and worked from the home.