Coziest Homes in Literature

The clocks have changed, the days are dark, and there is no better time to curl up in a cozy nook with your favorite read. There is something so magical about a good book in front of a roaring fire, or in a warm and welcoming living room. The world just slips away. In some cases, you even get double the coziness when a book transports you to another warm and snuggly spot. We’ve rounded up our favorite fictional homes that are just perfect for chilly days.

The Burrow (The Weasleys’ Home, Harry Potter)

There are so many phenomenally warm and cozy spaces within the world of Harry Potter: the Three Broomsticks, the Gryffindor common room, and even the Great Hall. Our favorite, however, is nowhere near so grand. It’s a little ramshackle full of love, friends and family. It’s the Burrow, of course! The Weasley home may look like it’s about to fall over from the outside, but inside it’s warm and welcoming. Plenty of comfy couches and endless cups of tea from the kitchen make this one of the homiest homes in literature – even if it is a bit crowded.

Bag End (Bilbo Baggins’ Hole, The Hobbit)

Bag End is kept spick and span, with all the peace and quiet a Hobbit could desire. Far from the cheerful chaos of the Weasley home, Bag End is neat and quiet, but it’s certainly still cozy. Features include the rounded archways, wooden walls, fireplaces, and soft light. All of this is only enhanced by being almost entirely underground! Of course, Bag End becomes a little less pristine as Bilbo gets older and learns the joy of an adventure (and a meal with dwarves)! Still, it remains the perfect place to read a book or even to write one, just like Bilbo.

The Dwarfs’ Cottage (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

Speaking of Dwarves (or Dwarfs, as it is generally spelled outside of Middle Earth), Snow White’s friends have a cozy cottage of their own that we would love to spend some time in. Nestled deep in the woods, the cottage isn’t large, but it’s just the right size for seven little men (and a friend or two). Before Snow White got there, it wouldn’t be the best place to spend a winter’s evening at all, but once the First Lady of Disney took it in hand, the cottage became a perfect refuge from the cold. Clean, comfy, with food over the fire and pies on the windowsill. Bonus: helpful woodland creatures are available to clean and make you tea.

The Cabin (Little House in The Big Woods)

Anyone who grew up reading the tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder knows that the Little House in the Big Woods is synonymous with coziness, especially in the wintertime. Laura’s story of Christmas in the Big House is one of snowbanks building up against the log walls, days spent inside by the fire, maple candy dances, and an attic stuffed full of good food. There are even sleigh rides to add to the magic. Of course, actually living in the late 1800s wouldn’t come with the same creature comforts that we love to enjoy with a good book (no gingerbread lattes, for one!). Still, there are times where a small family in a warm cabin, with a fireplace and a gentler, slower pace of living sounds just about perfect.

The Cabin on Fraser Ridge (Outlander series)

The Fraser Cabin (featured in Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, and A Breath of Snow and Ashes) was built nearly a hundred years before Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House, but it feels very similar in a lot of ways. Perched up on the Ridge in the wilderness, the cabin has plenty of warmth and coziness to keep out the winter storms (and the various predators of the story, both human and animal). You still won’t be drinking a gingerbread latte with your book at the window of this cabin, but peace and quiet are guaranteed – and you may be lucky enough to sample a tot of Jaime’s whiskey! 

The Beaver’s Dam (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe)

Like Harry Potter, there are plenty of warm and cozy spots within the fantasy world of C.S. Lewis’s classic tales of Narnia. The Professor’s mansion could even be included. It’s a little draughty, but guaranteed to have an incredible library with hidden doors to other worlds. There’s also Mr. Tumnus’s home. But it’s the Beaver’s Dam that wins, for us. There’s something about how the children reach it after a trek in the snow after the disappointment of seeing what happened to Tumnus. Seeing that little dam with smoke rising from the chimney in the middle of a frozen lake…it’s pure magic.

Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables)

Warmed as much by nostalgia as by the fireplace, Green Gables has been a much beloved literary home for generations, and it’s not the only one in the series. There’s also Miss Lavender’s cottage (Echo Lodge), their college home (Patty’s Place), the House of Dreams, and of course, Anne’s own family home, Ingleside. But Green Gables is where this charming story starts and Green Gables is where we’d like to be, right by Anne and Marilla. There is something about Green Gables that feels like home for so many readers, especially when Anne has added her softening influence to the old farmhouse.

Wherever you put your feet up for the winter, we hope it’s somewhere just as cozy as these famous literary homes.