“Adorable,” I kept marveling after discovering this little, yellow house. I found myself using the same animated tone of voice as I use when discussing my parents’ miniature, wire-haired dachshund. I suppose it’s my tone of voice for all things miniature and adorable.

In the photo above, I included a partial view of the neighboring natural-finish, white-cedar shingle house, which is by no means large, as a scale reference for the diminutive yellow house. Dividing a home’s volume into smaller components is a strategy I often recommend for reducing the apparent scale of larger homes. But, here, an already smaller home has divided its volume into smaller components, which results in it seeming even smaller, and, yes, even more adorable. Wouldn’t it be delightful if whoever lives here owned a “Kite Blue” MINI Cooper and parked it out front for my next photo op?!

The attention to detail in the porch brackets, chamfered posts, staggered shingle coursing on the gable end which wraps the side walls, and the angled boards infilling the ends of the porch roof only tips the scale further on the adorable scale. So do the yellow and white color scheme and the seemingly large (for such a petite house) double-hung windows.

Show me the keys; the yellow house would be a dreamy vacation rental. (Did I mention it's on Martha's Vineyard?)

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast