Summer house

A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places of relaxation or retreat from the summer heat.

It can also refer to a second residence, usually located in the country, that provides a cool and relaxing home to live in during the summer, such as a vacation property.

In the Nordic countries

Especially in the Nordic countries, sommerhus ( Danish), sommarstuga ( Swedish), hytte ( Norwegian), sumarbústaður or sumarhús ( Icelandic) or kesämökki ( Finnish) is a summer residence (as a second home). It can be a larger dwelling like a cottage rather than a simple shelter.

''Sommarhus'' (in sv, sommarstuga or ''lantställe''), in Norwegian ''hytte'', is a popular holiday home or summer cottage, often near the sea or in an attractive area of the countryside. Most are timber constructions, often suitable for year-round use. Increasingly they have additions such as saunas, heating ovens, fireplaces or attractive gardens. Increasingly, English speakers call them summerhouses. A Swedish "sommarstuga" is traditionally painted with a special red colour called " falu rödfärg and has white trimmed corners, windows, and doors."

Many of the Danish resorts depend on the rental of summerhouses to accommodate national and foreign tourists who can rent them, usually on a weekly basis, at prices (for a family) well below those of hotels. But Scandinavians often spend a considerable amount of time in their summerhouses which are often the venue for family reunions or simply weekends away from the office.

In recent years, the popularity and thus the cost of summerhouses has increased appreciably, particularly in Denmark's coastal resorts. While under Danish law, owners are not normally permitted to use these houses as permanent homes, an exception is made for pensioners.

In some attractive areas of Norway, there is "residence duty" (Norwegian: boplikt), meaning that an owner of a house must use it as their main home and spend most of their overnight stays there. Other areas of Norway are defined as "summer house areas", where it is forbidden to live permanently. This is because there are quality requirements for permanent homes that do not apply to cottages.Derfor får du ikke bo i hytta hele året
(in Norwegian)

Sweden has no ban against using summer houses all of the year, or against using a normal house in summer only. This has made Swedish summer houses popular for Danes, Norwegians, and Germans. But in some very attractive coastal areas prices are so high that residents can't afford a house, making some traditional coastal villages very silent in winter.

See also

* Bothy – simple shelter
* Buitenplaats
* Bungalow – type of single-storey house
* Cottage
* Dacha – seasonal or year-round second homes located in the exurbs of Soviet and Russian cities
* Derby Summer House
* Fog House - a pleasure house often lined with moss.
* Gazebo
* Log cabin
* Mountain hut - building located in the mountains intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers and hikers
* Mow Cop Castle
* Pavilion
* Pergola
* '' Pied-à-terre'' – small living unit, typically located in a large city
* Shepherd's hut
* Shieling
* Small house movement
* Tea house
* Tree house
* Vacation rental

References

External links

Queen Anne's Summer HouseSummerhouse 24The Summer House of the Capitol Complex

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House types
Summer
Garden features