] It reminds me of someone on one of these boards once saying that JA characters who enthuse about/profess to love a cottage are always the ones who are wealthy and don't have to live in them. :-)

Yes, exactly! The modern equivelent would be someone who "gets away from it all" by going bamping in an RV, loaded with everything from a shower to an air conditioner to an inboard computer. Ah, the simple pleasures! ;-)