Tuesday, April 30, 2024

17 Cape Cod Houses and Details of This All-American Classic Style

cape cod style house

The rooms are small and a bit boxy, which makes it easy to grow out of for young families. Adding on rooms isn't all that easy, either, since it's so catered to a specific flow and symmetrical feel. Get ready for a hot summer — Cape Cod homes are notorious for poor airflow, so window air conditioner units are a must (and nothing ruins that gorgeous curb appeal more than an AC hanging out front). The distressed siding lends a hand to the beachside feel, but other common features in Cape Cod homes are shiplap and cedar accents, says Homenish. It's unlikely that you'd find gaudy or ornate decor in one of these homes, aside from a column or two touching upon the traditional theme.

Cape Cod-style floor plans and layouts

cape cod style house

In the 1930s, the Depression and Colonial Revival combined to make Cape Cod-style homes regain popularity as an economical building style. In the 1940s and 1950s, Cape Cod homes were a widespread answer to the post-war housing boom. In the 1920s, people began inserting dormer windows into the roofs to increase light and ventilation and create extra bedrooms. Cape Cod revival houses from the mid-20th century are often more embellished than the austere early models.

Three-quarter Cape Cod house style

These homes were built to help house families and veterans returning from war. A three-quarter Cape also ditches the symmetry a bit, with the front door off center and lined up with the staple chimney. On one side is one window, and on the other is two — it's quite literally the equivalent of adding another window onto the half Cape.

History of the Cape Cod house style

The steeply pitched roofs, for example, are designed to allow heavy snow to slide off more easily in the winter. “Cape Cod is a seasonal destination where the summer population increases by at least 5–10 times than that of the year-round population,” McDonald adds. Like many beach towns throughout the northern coast, plenty of the homes are only used 12 weeks out of the year—and even those that are used year-round get the most action in the summer months. “Seasonal homes like many of these are designed for outdoor and beach living.

Much like a-frame house plans or chalet house plans, the steep roofline of a Cape Cod house plan lends itself well to shedding snow during bitter winters. Best known for its characteristic symmetrical design, the Cape Cod has a steep roof featuring pitched triangular areas toward the front and back and a large central chimney. Though traditionally built as a single-story house, today’s Cape Cod-style homes can have multiple floors and additional wings. This home style also features a center-placed front door and shuttered windows on either side. The exterior of the Cape Cod house is commonly clad in cedar shingles but newer homes are also built of brick, stucco, and stone. Window boxes and shutters serve as the primary sources of ornamentation, and black is often used as a popular accent color for doors, shutters, and trims in modern Cape Cod homes.

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Cape Cod houses are defined by their simple shapes and limited exterior ornamentation. They are typically built with side-gabled roofs, which feature sloped sides along the front and back and pitched triangular areas on either side of the house. This stripped-down roofline distinguishes them from the cornucopia of roof angles and details often found in Victorian homes. Though Cape Cod homes are known and loved for their simplicity, they were ultimately designed for colder, snowier climates — right down to their steep roofs.

Some newer builds incorporate brick, but in beach towns, shingles are more common. American Colonial architecture is an umbrella term encompassing Cape Cod homes. The house shown here is a five-bay, with shutters on the windows and the doorway—architectural details that define a homeowner's personal style. The side chimney and one-car attached garage are telling details for the age of this home—a time when the middle class flourished and prospered. The exterior steep roofs are symbolic of a typical cape cod house that is designed solely for the purpose of minimizing the weight of the snow.

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The windows on a Cape Cod play a critical role in creating the charm and curb appeal of this home style. Originally, Cape Cod homes were often built to maximize available sunlight, with the largest and tallest windows facing south. This positioning helped minimize heating costs while taking advantage of natural light. You’ll typically see double-hung windows with shutters on the main floor, and dormers on the second to increase light and air circulation. According to HGTV, Cape homes are two stories, with low ceilings, a small attic up top, and a central, narrow staircase. The exterior of older builds often features wooden, single shingle siding, typically in a distressed brown or gray tone.

When kids are asked to draw a picture of a house in elementary school, they invariably respond with a rectangular shape that features a door in the center, with a window on each side. This simple – but timeless and charming – architectural depiction is a quintessential “Cape Cod” home. Admired for its simple, timeless, clean-lined rectangular silhouette, steep roof, and central door, a Cape Cod house is likely what a child would draw if you asked them to draw a house.

With roots in the 17th century, this classic American style remains popular today. These Cape Cod-style homes showcase several key elements that distinguish this casual, traditional style. Meanwhile, if there is a bedroom on the upper floor, adding dormers for natural lighting is a good way to enhance the charming beauty of a Cape Cod house.

This home may have a picket fence in the front yard, but don't be fooled when calculating the age of this structure. The recessed entryway is an architectural solution to the rain-dripping and snow-melting problems of traditional Cape Cod designs. That's not to say that some pilgrim didn't think of this solution first. Cape Cod house plans for 1950s America was a marketing scheme for a booming housing market. Just like the dream we have of the seaside cottage, the soldiers coming back from World War II had the dream of families and home ownership. Everyone knew Cape Cod, nobody had heard of Cape Ann, so developers invented the Cape Cod style, loosely based on reality.

Not only do neutral colors pair nicely with Cape Cod’s simple structure, but they can also act as a blank canvas, ready to evolve as your style does. On the other hand, anyone who wants to embrace the style’s coastal roots will find a lot to love about a palette of light blues and soothing, seafoam greens. But just because Cape Cod house style has been around for nearly 400 years doesn’t mean it's lost its luster. While it fell out of trend in the 1850s, the style had a major resurgence between 1925 and 1955. According to the United States’ Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, this style was the last type of colonial-era homes to be revived to modern times. While Cape Cod house style is typically synonymous with American architecture, it actually dates back to the Puritan colonists back in the 17th century.

'Once the full Cape is achieved with four windows in the front, it can grow in the back with an extension or a connection to the barn or today to the garage,' Lichten says. We love how this space uses boat motifs to bring this space back to its coastal roots. Cape Cod residences can be found throughout New England – and various parts of the United States – but the style feels most at home along the sandy beaches of Massachusetts.

The architectural style of the first houses near and on Massachusetts' Cape Cod, like what you can see at Plimoth Plantation, 404 has long been the starting point for designing the American home. The architecture defines a people and a culture—unadorned, functional, and practical. Craftsman houses are known for detailed interior woodwork, large front porches, and earthy colors.

These pop-out windows allow some breathing room for the half-floor on the second level, making it suitable for bedrooms and bonus spaces. Depending on the position of the front doors and multi-pane glass windows on the facade, Cape Cod homes further segregate their design styles into single, three-quarters, and full cape. However, there are a few common design characteristics in each that unite into one strong architectural design style called the ‘Cape Cod Style’. The first style, which was the popular pick among early settlers, is the half Cape. It strays a bit from what we consider a common Cape style home today because it isn't as perfectly symmetrical — instead, it features the front door on one side, with two traditional windows to the other side. These were often the jumping off point for new, middle class homeowners to add on to as their families grew.

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