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Their small size and scale exuded "puritanical simplicity" on the outside and "tightly organized spaces" on the inside — a combination that Gebhard likens to the inner workings of a marine vessel. Shiplap is a typical exterior siding style that got its name for looking like the wood planking of a ship's siding. Since Cape Cod homes are heavily nautically influenced, try shiplap or beadboard horizontal or vertical panels for interior rooms. This wall paneling adds rustic warmth, giving any room a cottage-like feel. The full Cape is the most accurate representation of the original architecture. The home is symmetrical, with a centered door, windows on each side, and a large central chimney.
How to decorate with Cape Cod house style
For a Cape Cod style home, feeling cozy is key — and when it comes to feeling comfortable in a home, one of the best places to start is the lighting. A Cape house may start to feel closed off with harsh lights or grandiose fixtures because of its smaller, boxed rooms and low ceilings, so lighting is key to complimenting the space. 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. Overall, the calmness and coziness of these homes draw innumerable homeowners each year. The distinctive character of these homes marks as an important style of design in the history that continues to lead for the generations to come.
Unexpected exteriors
The final addition to the stark design of the Cape Cod style house is the front porch, which has become as traditional an element as the weathered shingle siding or the dish antennae. Since Cape Cod house style is typically free of any ornamentation, it’s easy to write it off as bland. But, as architect Kevin Lichten argues, its simplicity has made this a lasting home trend.
Everything You Need To Know About Cape Cod-Style Houses
On a Cape Cod house with side gables, the metal border on the roof looks anything but "colonial." The American Cape Cod house style is often considered the first American independent style. Its design is simple, compact, expandable, and, for mid-20th-century developers, the Cape Cod could be prefabricated. Most of the Cape Cod houses we see today are not from the Colonial era, so they are technically revivals. 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.
Plan: #198-1060
Quarter-Capes have only a single window and door on the front-facing side of the home. In the earliest designs, many of these homes featured windows that extended to the top of the ceiling because the ceiling height was lower than in today's standard architectural designs. The first Cape Cod style homes were built by Puritan colonists who came to America in the late 17th century. They modeled their homes after the half-timbered houses of their English homeland, but adapted the style to the stormy New England weather. Over a few generations, a modest, one- to one-and-a-half-story house with wooden shutters emerged.
Fast Facts: Colonial Cape Characteristics
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. Still, simplicity remains a visual hallmark of this somewhat minimalist but undeniably cozy home style. A traditional Cape Cod layout includes one main living space with the common room also used as the family or living room.
Cape Cod House: Everything You Need to Know About These Quintessential New England Homes
Cape Cod housing lottery: Buyers can vie for this $237K Brewster home - Cape Cod Times
Cape Cod housing lottery: Buyers can vie for this $237K Brewster home.
Posted: Mon, 29 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Pilasters, sidelights, fanlights and other Georgian and Federal or Adam style refinements decorate this historic Cape Cod home in Sandwich, New Hampshire. From matching Adirondack chair to a pristine picket fence, you can easily bring that Cape Cod charm to your backyard. '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.
Colonial Revival (1930s–1950s)
You may have seen hundreds of Cape Cod homes dotted around seaside towns of New England and Massachusetts. The style is a very simple one; a rectangular shaped house with gable pitched roof. Cape Cod homes rarely have decorative features or a porch as they were designed for practical reasons rather than appearance. These homes have low ceilings and a huge central chimney to keep the occupants warm during the cold winters of the north.
Plan: #142-1036
Eventually there may have been a center hall in a floor plan of four rooms, with a kitchen addition in the back, separated for fire safety. Certainly a Cape Cod house had hardwood floors that replaced original dirt floors, and what interior trim there was would be painted white — for purity. American Colonial architecture is an umbrella term encompassing Cape Cod homes. A traditional Cape Cod floor plan includes a living room, kitchen, and bath downstairs with two small bedrooms upstairs. Originating around the same period, Cape Cod and Colonial-style homes share many notable characteristics. The historical tie between the two styles is apparent on the pitched roofs of many of these houses.
It also featured a large central chimney and a pitched roof, which gives it the classic gables on either side.Traditionally, it was clad in wood, since that was more readily available in New England than stone or brick. “Every once in a while, there will be a house with lap, which is usually in a very narrow reveal of about 4 inches. Dormer windows were a 1920s development that allowed more light and air to reach upstairs rooms. The Cape Cod cottage–type house (it is a form or type, not a style, though commonly – mistakenly – referred to as a style) originated in the wood-building counties of England and was brought to America by Puritan carpenters. Using local materials—cedar for roofing and siding shingles, oak and pine for framing and flooring[2]—settlers built houses locally adapted to New England's extreme winter climate.
Its application (or misapplication) can drastically affect the curb appeal and charm of any home. When looking for a Cape Cod house, the façade is usually the first that will come to mind. Though most residences often feature unpainted side shingles and a clapboard or cedar shake roof, its symmetry will likely catch your eye. 'Thanks to its enduring versatility, Cape Cod houses are suitable for an array of regions, types of families, and, of course, materials.
Similarly of its time is the slant-roofed “saltbox,” a Cape home expanded in the back to increase living or storage space. It is not unusual to find hybrid houses that combine Cape Cod features with Tudor cottage, Ranch styles, Arts and Crafts or Craftsman bungalow. A "bungalow" is a small home, but its use is often reserved for a more Arts and Crafts design. A "cottage" is used more often to amplify the house style described here.
Shingle shakes and wood clapboards are additional distinguishing features of Cape Cod-style homes. Wood was a plentiful local material for those just settling on the East Coast. Before pre-milled lumber, cedar shakes were hand-split from blocks of wood using a mallet.
This gives them an inherently intimate feeling."The upstairs bedrooms are deliciously cozy with their sloping eaves and quirky little gable end windows, " Hassler says. "Older Capes have a central hearth that begs family and friends to pull up a chair and chat." Hardie® fiber cement siding products are a perfect choice for Cape Cod exteriors. Our HardieShingle siding and HardiePlank lap siding profiles maintain the traditional look, but with a modern, low-maintenance material.
Modern Cape Cod homes also feature beadboard or board-and-batten elements, along with functional built-ins to add storage. Because many Cape Cods are only 1,200-1,800 square feet, it’s essential to make good use of every square inch. These homes often include built-in bookshelves, china cabinets, beds, reading nooks, and decorative shelves, with beadboard paneling commonly found on kitchen cabinets and ceilings. However, some modern Cape Cod homes no longer include the traditional cabinetry and have smooth-slab doors for a sleek and contemporary look. In addition to Cape Cod houses, American architectural styles include Colonial, which derived its details, including simple color palettes and a symmetrical facade, from Georgian and Federalist styles, among others.
You’ll typically see double-hung windows with shutters on the main floor, and dormers on the second to increase light and air circulation. The Cape Cod-style home is architecturally iconic and one of the most popular house styles in the U.S., along with the colonial-style, Tudor-style, and the row house. Learn more about the long history of this quaint architectural style, the defining characteristics that set it apart, and the different types of Cape Cod-style homes. 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. The first houses in the New World, like in the settlement at Plimoth, were simple post-and-beam shelters with one opening—a door.
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