10 Favorites: Picket Fences That Remind Us Why We Love Summer Cottages

As a young girl in China, my mother’s American Dream included John Wayne and a white picket fence.

She never did get John Wayne or the white picket fence, but she’s not complaining. She and my father were able to raise and educate their four children in the US, her revised version of the American dream. Here are ten favorite versions of the picket fence:

 Above: A white picket fence outside Jeffrey Bilhuber's Rose Cottage on Nantucket. Image via Architectural Digest.

Above: A white picket fence in historic Jacksonville, Oregon. Image by Art-Craft-Thrift via Flickr. 

 Above: The archetypal cottage with a white picket fence: in Siasconset, Nantucket, it's the prevailing theme. Photograph by Thisisbossi via Flickr.

Above: Rather grand for a summer cottage? There's a lot to be said for family tradition. We could be very comfortable spending the summer here with our grandparents, parents, and children. Image via Yankee Magazine.

Above: White picket fences have been in use in America since colonial times as evidenced in the Orlando Jones kitchen house in Colonial Williamsburg. Image by Jeffrey Martin via Flickr. 

Above: Triangular notches in the posts add a decorative feel to this white picket fence. Image via Garden Photos.

Above: With an exterior that pays homage to the Victorian cottage vernacular, a modern house in Albert Park, Australia has a minimalist interior; designed by architect Matt Gibson. Photograph via Cube Me.

Above: A painted brick cottage with a white picket fence. Image via Absolute Best Photography.

Above: A white picket fence in the front yard of a house in Smithfield, Virginia. Image via These Days of Mine. 

Above: A white-on-white palette, via Country Living.

Thinking about fencing? Have you considered the opposite extreme to the white picket fence - a cactus fence? See Cactus as Glamorous Privacy Fencing. 

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