Review

Review: LEGO Autumn Cottage Garden is a return to the subtheme's roots

By Matt Yeo · November 29, 2025
Review: LEGO Autumn Cottage Garden is a return to the subtheme's roots

The third LEGO Icons Gardens of the World release steers the subtheme back on course, thanks to a slightly more fantasy-based build.

While the LEGO Gardens of the World series may have taken a slight left turn with 10359 Fountain Garden, the subtheme will be well and truly back on track in 2026. 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden brings a more balanced approach to man-made structures and nature in harmony, delivering a satisfying storybook build that takes its inspiration from Hollywood-created fairytale architecture.

Release: Jan 1, 2026

Retiring: Dec 31, 2028

Price: £99.99 / $119.99 / €109.99

Pieces: 1,102

Minifigures: 0

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Storybook houses were popularised in the 1920s in the UK and US following the introduction of a movie-style of architecture known as Provincial Revivalism. Taking their cues from European fairytales such as Hansel and Gretel, those buildings boasted steep cobblestone roofs, mismatched doors and windows, multiple gables and a playful sense of whimsy.

That unique architectural approach was most recently seen in 2024’s 43242 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage and is matched in the third LEGO Icons Gardens of the World release, 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden.

Criticisms of 10359 Fountain Garden seem to have been mostly addressed with this set, which offers a much sturdier finished model, one that still has some fragility where its many trees and plants are concerned, but feels more like a fully-formed and self-contained build when compared to the previous release.

This time around, the LEGO Icons design team has crafted a cosy autumn scene that will have you practically reaching for a warm blanket and a mug of cocoa, and it’s a model that’s literally bursting with all kinds of spectacular seasonal colours, flora and fauna.

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As with the first two LEGO Icons Gardens of the World sets – 10315 Tranquil Garden and 10359 Fountain Garden11372 Autumn Cottage Garden sits on its own solid base, with grey tiles giving the edges a cobblestone feel. Its whimsical nature is also reflected here in a two-piece garden snail slowly crawling its way up the side of the build, a nice touch that hints at nature breaking free of the model.

The 1,102-piece LEGO Icons set really starts to earn its £99.99 / $119.99 / €109.99 asking price when it comes to what sits on top of that base. Despite not being as layered as 10315 Tranquil Garden, most of your time will be spent here, adding tan and sand green elements to build up the autumnal scene, which is broken up with transparent blue pieces forming a stream, with stepping stones allowing access to both sides of the garden and a handy wooden bench to admire the view.

11372 Autumn Cottage Garden’s terrain is then bolstered with a storybook thatched cottage, which is packed with interior detail that includes a cosy kitchen interior, complete with table for making a tasty pumpkin soup with ingredients from the garden and a stone fireplace with crackling flames.

The steep roof of the cottage is assembled using some clever sideways building techniques and triangular geometry and can be removed, allowing access to the interior, with ingot elements used to create the front and rear opening window shutters (with room inside for sneaky animal figures), and a white cloud piece topping off the storybook feel of the model.

With the basics in place, 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden's assembly process then moves on to the part of the build that may excite most fans of the LEGO Icons subtheme. The set is packed with all sorts of colourful flora, including four trees – a silver birch with new reddish orange leaves, a weeping willow with stunning new drooping leaves in medium orange, a blue spruce with new sand green leaves and a maple – plus seasonal plants such as aster, sage, bullrushes and sunflowers.

Each of the trees follows the flexible pattern of the first two LEGO Icons Gardens of the World sets and can be removed and rearranged however you see fit. That gives 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden all kinds of display potential, allowing builders to set up the finished autumn scene in any number of ways.

What’s more, there’s even the option to swap out plants and other elements from both 10315 Tranquil Garden and 10359 Fountain Garden, so those with both of the previous sets will have even more options for how to show off the finished model.

In addition to a generous helping of trees and plants, the LEGO Icons set also gains its own selection of suitable wildlife, thanks to the inclusion of multiple woodland creature figures. As well as the aforementioned snail, 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden also comes with a common frog, a cute red squirrel and two birds, specifically a European robin and a Eurasian nuthatch, both of which boast finely-detailed printing to match their real-life avian counterparts.

The flexibility of the LEGO Icons set allows for those critters to be placed in any number of locations, such as a sideways connection point on the birch tree for the nuthatch to hop up and down the black and white trunk (as they actually do).

11372 Autumn Cottage Garden is rounded out with many other suitable cottagecare decor elements that give the set even more character. Those include a bird box by the stream, a lamp next to the garden bench, a sundial that utilises antenna elements in an all-new purple colour and a new dark grey 2x2 tile, a wheelbarrow groaning with autumn produce from the garden and a four-piece gnome that features a red hat, the first time we’ve had the part in that particular hue.

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Some may bemoan 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden’s slightly more fantastical twist on the subtheme’s previous offerings, with a model that has one muddy boot placed firmly in a classic storybook style, but there’s no getting away from the fact that the LEGO Icons set manages to make for a supremely satisfying standalone display piece.

While we’d still place 10315 Tranquil Gardens as the highlight of the Gardens of the World series to date, 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden is certainly a close second. The LEGO Icons model delivers just the sort of laid-back and meditative building experience that you’d hope for from such a build, representing a charming slice of country life.

Those looking for a seasonal centrepiece for their LEGO collections will want to pick up 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden come the new year, with the display-worthy build a perfect addition to the Gardens of the World subtheme.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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How long does it take to build 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden?

With many small pieces included in 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden, the 18+ LEGO Icons set is likely to take you around four hours to complete.

Does 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden include any new parts?

There are multiple new pieces to be found within 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden, such as drooping weeping willow leaves in medium orange, sand green fern leaves, the silver birch tree’s reddish orange leaves and a gnome’s red hat.

How big is 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden?

The finished LEGO Icons display model measures over 19cm tall, 29cm wide and is 18cm deep.

How much does 11372 Autumn Cottage Garden cost?

11372 Autumn Cottage Garden is priced at £99.99 in the UK, $119.99 in the US and €109.99 in Europe, with pre-orders for the LEGO Icons set now live.

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