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Topic : "Its vs "the" when referring to an element belonging to the previous sentence Example: The cottage looked completely different inside. It had none of the coldness and rigidity of its exterior. - selfpublishingguru.com

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Example:

The cottage looked completely different inside. It had none of the
coldness and rigidity of its exterior.

Or

The cottage looked completely different inside. It had none of the
coldness and rigidity of the exterior.

Here is another example:

Without slowing my pace, I gazed at the river. Its waters were
calm, and stretched into the distance until it reached the city.

Or

Without slowing my pace, I gazed at the river. The waters were
calm, and stretched into the distance until it reached the city.

Both are grammatical. What's the best choice? (e.g. sounds/flows better).

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I would lean towards showing ownership through the use of its. They are both attributes of the river and cottage mentioned.
Where you might use "the" is in the same sentence, like these examples:

The waters of the river were calm as I gazed at them, stretching into the distance until they reached the city.
The interior of the cottage showed none of the coldness and rigidity of the exterior.

I admit, this is my gut instinct and not an academic reasoning. Someone else may have such an answer.

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