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Cape Cod house style the ultimate guide to what it is and how to get the look

cape style house

The windows and doors will not only enhance the architectural charm of the house but also contribute to its overall curb appeal and visual impact. The double cape features a front door in the central part of the house with two symmetrically placed multi-paned windows on either side. There is also a huge chimney and a steep roof as the defining characteristics of a full cape. The rectangular interior could be divided or not, with a large central chimney linked to a fireplace in each room. No doubt the first homes would have been one room, then two rooms — a master bedroom and a living area.

Plan: #106-1315

The structure of a Cape Cod makes it easy to add to another section of the house or connect to a garage or carriage house without losing the home’s iconic style. In these cases, homeowners have the option to extend the back of the home or add another story for additional space. For a Cape Cod with an attic converted to living space, the attic runs the risk of not being well insulated, making the home more susceptible to ice dams, which can cause interior leaking or mold. Traditional Cape Cod homes may also have outdated kitchens, uneven floors, unfinished basements, or attics not suitable for living space. With modest square footage that typically ranges from 1,200 to 1,800 square feet, the Cape Cod is smaller than most homes built today, which average around 2,300 square feet.

How to Maintain and Preserve a Cape Cod Style House

Today, the Cape Cod house style continues to be a beloved and sought-after choice for homeowners looking for a blend of traditional elegance and practicality. Its rich history and enduring design elements are a testament to the enduring appeal of this architectural gem. During the 20th century, the Cape Cod house style experienced a revival, with architects and designers across the country being inspired by its timeless charm.

A Living Tradition

These features add warmth and character to the living space, complementing natural materials like wicker and rattan. Wood integration creates an inviting, cozy ambiance that resonates with Cape Cod’s regional variants. Dormer windows are a defining feature of Cape Cod style houses, providing extra bedroom and attic space. Combined with the iconic multi-pane windows, they offer excellent air circulation and fill the common spaces with natural light. In reality, the history of what we call the Cape Cod style is not a pure and simple revival story, but more of a survival story. European immigrants to the New World brought building skills with them, but their first dwellings were more Primitive Hut than bold, new architectural style.

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Most Cape Cod exteriors have a similar look and feel, making them easy to spot in your neighborhood. And, as it turns out, their interiors are just as streamlined as their facades.

The style has since been adapted to today's tastes and lifestyles, but many of its simplistic charms remain. A close relative of the Colonial-style homes scattered across the East Coast and the South, Cape Cod houses were an economical answer to Americans' desires to be homeowners. With roots in the 17th century, this classic American style remains popular today.

Many designers use the Cape Cod as a starting point, embellishing the style with features from other times and places. However, you can easily personalize this home style by adding window boxes for flowers, painting your chimney a bold color, putting up a picket fence in color other than white, or adding colored shutters. These small changes can update and modernize your Cape Cod from traditional to contemporary.

cape style house

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Listed: A historic Cape Cod home that overlooks a marsh — and a ‘Giant’ - Boston.com

Listed: A historic Cape Cod home that overlooks a marsh — and a ‘Giant’.

Posted: Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Whether it’s the pine shingles, master suite features, or exterior characteristics, a systematic approach to upkeep ensures that the house remains visually appealing and structurally sound. The Cape Cod style is a testament to the adaptability and ingenuity of early American architecture, influenced by English cottage homes but distinctly American in its evolution and enduring presence. Whether you’re a fan of historic homes or looking for the charm of cedar shingles and dormer windows, the Cape Cod style house offers a livable space full of character. Despite these changes, the Cape Cod style house has maintained its core features, symbolizing traditional American family living. Whether seen in the early colonies or modern times, Cape Cod style homes remain an enduring part of the American architectural landscape. “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.

Cape Cod style homes have lots of windows to let in natural light, adding to the charm. You’ll find these homes have cedar shingles, brick, stucco, or stone exteriors. The Cape Cod originated in the early 18th century as early settlers used half-timbered English houses with a hall and parlor as a model, and adapted it to New England's stormy weather and natural resources. Cape house plans are generally one to one-and-a-half story dormered homes featuring steep roofs with side gables and a small overhang. As Wright explains, Cape Cod houses are often imagined as the classic American beach house. Traditionally, they’re small, single- or one-and-a-half-story homes with steeply pitched, side-gabled roofs, central chimneys, dormer windows, and clad in shingles.

Despite the common characteristic of a central door with two parallel aligned windows, these Cape Cod style homes vary in designs and features that mix-match and complement each other. Regarding scale and proportion, these homes range from plain square or rectangular structures to massive abodes. 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. The appeal of a Cape Cod cottage is in its simplicity and unassuming design—which makes it a great style of home for anyone still refining their personal aesthetic. Unlike a true Colonial, which may suggest a traditional interior design style to match, Cape Cods are highly versatile because of their clean geometric look.

The first houses in the New World, like in the settlement at Plimoth, were simple post-and-beam shelters with one opening—a door. Settlers used the materials at hand, which meant one-story houses of white pine and dirt floors. They quickly realized that their own ideal of the English cottage would have to be adapted to the extremes of the New England climate. The interior color palette of a traditional Cape Cod home mirrors the exterior environment, often using pastel colors to mimic the sky, grass, water, and sun to add warmth and charm to the interior. Modern Cape Cod interior design opts for a white color palette to add light to the home and create a larger feel in the space.

With careful planning and attention to detail, you can create a beautiful landscape that enhances the curb appeal of your Cape Cod house and showcases its timeless charm. Named after the Cape Cod peninsula in Massachusetts, this architectural style originated in the 17th century and has since become synonymous with coziness, charm, and a sense of history. With its simple yet elegant features, the Cape Cod house style has stood the test of time and continues to be a popular choice for homeowners today.

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.

The steeply pitched roofs, for example, are designed to allow heavy snow to slide off more easily in the winter. Ultimately, the floor plan of a Cape Cod house works to create a functional, comfortable, and charming living environment that embraces the timeless architectural style of this beloved home design. These exterior features collectively contribute to the timeless and picturesque charm of Cape Cod houses. Whether located by the sea or in a suburban neighborhood, these architectural elements continue to captivate homeowners with their classic and enduring design. The half-cape style homes feature a corner front door with two multi-paned windows on the other side. The half-cape began as a starter home and over time, the settlers kept adding more rooms to it to accommodate their growing families.

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