Ammon News - Where better to hunker down in the autumn than the ultimate snug home? The thatched cottage is romantic, sustainable, has a long, proud tradition – and is now enjoying a revival.

As the nights draw in and winter in the northern hemisphere approaches, the idea of a cosy, picturesque cottage in the countryside is a classic fantasy. On social media, the cottagecore aesthetic shows no sign of abating, and has spawned the similarly popular hashtag "cosycore". Images abound of quaint, quintessentially British cottages, their roofs often blanketed by thick thatch, with rambling roses prettily framing their front doors.

I think cosy culture resonates so widely because it speaks to a universal need for warmth, comfort and togetherness – Abigail Hopkins
On TikTok, the idealised thatched cottage is now a compelling signifier of comfort, security, authenticity and simplicity, racking up millions of views. Cosy-culture-themed video clips sell a chocolate-box idyll of bucolic country living as cameras pan lovingly past cottage gardens with grazing roe deer, then venture indoors, revealing snug, welcoming havens of steaming mugs of tea, low ceilings, wooden beams and Willow-pattern china arranged artfully on vintage Welsh dressers.

Most thatched cottages in the UK are based in East Anglia, Dorset, Devon, Wiltshire, and the Cotswolds, as well as in rural regions of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are also found in the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sicily, Belgium and France. Historical precedents of this vernacular architectural tradition include thatched cottages in the pastoral hamlet built for Marie Antoinette on theVersailles estate – her escape from formal court life – along with the thatched cottages painted by artists as disparate as Van Gogh in France to Kate Greenaway in Britain.