Table Of Content
But, when you mix it with another architecture style, you can create a home that feels authentic to your neck of the woods. Generally, Cape Cod homes have a steep roof, shingled exterior, symmetrical façade, and large chimney in the middle. While Cape Cod houses can have multiple floors, most residences are single-storied.
What are the different types of Cape Cod houses?
Traditional Cape Cod homes may also have outdated kitchens, uneven floors, unfinished basements, or attics not suitable for living space. While the traditional layout had rooms separated by walls and doorways to create a closed floor plan, the flow in a modern Cape can be similar to the traditional layout, where all rooms flow toward the kitchen. As Americans migrated from east to west, the Cape Cod design and construction moved with them. This is why Cape Cod houses are more often found in colder, snowier climates throughout New England in cities like Manchester, NH, Boston, MA, Cranston, RI, and Stamford, CT. In other areas of the United States, the Cape Cod-style is often mixed with craftsman elements, ranch, or Tudor design. 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.
Sign up to the Homes & Gardens newsletter
Cape Cod interiors have furniture with clean, traditional lines, simple, minimalist shapes, and a timeless cottage charm. They often feature plush sofas and accent chairs with deep-buttoned cushions. Pine or oak solid wood also gives the home a rustic feel while looking clean and refined.
$400000 Homes in Indiana, Virginia and New York - The New York Times
$400000 Homes in Indiana, Virginia and New York.
Posted: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Plan #
Or maybe you’re considering building elsewhere but crave quintessential New England charm? The typical Cape Cod house plan is modest in size, rectangular, symmetrical and accommodating to a variety of interior layouts. If you’re going to build a home you plan to stay in for the rest of your life, consider selecting a Cape Cod house plan that features the master suite on the main level, as this will make aging in place far easier. Windows play a big factor in creating the charm and efficiency of Cape Cod house plans. The rest of a Cape Cod style house’s exterior is pretty minimal in terms of ornamentation and usually boasts clapboard siding or wood shingles.
Why is Cape Cod house style so popular?
From lantern pendants, to handsome wooden accents, to a stately grandfather clock, antiques and traditional décor will fit nicely with this beloved architecture. 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. If you would like to have a builder construct your own Cape Cod style home one of the ways to do this is by purchasing a house plan. Opening into the living room is an eye-catchy fireplace with a large chimney design located as a focal point. These warm and cozy living rooms open out to a pilastered porch overlooking the lush English garden.
Capes also showcase symmetry, with large, peaked windows — known as dormers — coming out of its staple sloped roof. A chimney is also often right in the middle, dividing the two, and centering the angled attic. The rest of the windows on the house's exterior also mirror one another, adding to the general curb appeal of Cape Cod style. Multi-paned wooden shutter-clad windows flank a central door with simple surrounds. 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.
Cape Cod architecture is one of American architecture's most popular and easily recognizable styles. Named after the Massachusetts coastal region where it is the signature style, Cape Cod houses are ubiquitous in New England and can be found across the United States. The owners of this traditional 20th century Cape Cod house gave it a brand new look by adding mock stone facing. Its application (or misapplication) can drastically affect the curb appeal and charm of any home.
These craftsmen built simple, one-story homes designed to withstand the harsh, windy climate, using easy-to-find building materials like oak, pine, and cedar. The original rectangular footprint had low ceilings and a large central fireplace and chimney to provide warmth for the whole structure over the long, cold winters. Closely related to the Colonial-style home, the Cape Cod house was designed to be as practical and functional as possible.
Unexpected exteriors
This wall paneling adds rustic warmth, giving any room a cottage-like feel. The most obvious difference between today's Cape Cod style and an equivalent true colonial home is the addition of the dormer. Unlike the American Foursquare or other Colonial Revival house styles with one centered dormer on the roof, a Cape Cod style will often have two or more dormers. The modest size of Cape Cod homes often translated into modest use of details. Houses of this style are often sited to maximize available sunlight, with the biggest windows facing south. This positioning helps minimize heating costs while bringing ample natural light into rooms.
Pennrose to Add Housing Options in Cape Cod - Apartment Finance Today
Pennrose to Add Housing Options in Cape Cod.
Posted: Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
This Cape Cod home seems very traditional—no dormers, a center chimney, and not even any window shutters. Upon a closer look, in addition to a shed-like front door shelter, rain and snow can be redirected away from the house by gutters and downspouts and window lintels. For the practical New Englander, architectural detail is often for very practical reasons. Remembering that the original colonists of the New World took the journey because of freedom of religion, we should not be surprised at the Puritan-stark nature of America's first homes.
The home had to function in the heat of summer and bone-chilling New England winters. Unlike Victorian homes popular in the early 20th century, Cape Cod homes are distinguished by their simple architectural designs. Because of their modest geometric forms, Cape Cod houses are particularly well-suited for additions.
All Cape Cod homes have shutters to protect the interiors, so you could let your creative juices flow in specifying a particular shade for these coverings. Use a contrasting color to outshine your shutters and make your house stand out. Defining the authentic English style of architecture, these homes became native to New England’s harsh winters.
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. Colonials are known for their distinct room divisions and center-hall stairways. Traditionally, the space under the roof of a Cape Cod house wasn't used as a livable second story. Later, dormers became a useful solution for many Cape Cod homeowners to expand their living space.
A half-story on a second floor was a way for Cape Cod homeowners to gain square footage but save on building costs. Although there are some usage limitations, the half-story is well worth it for the extra space. Though Cape Cod houses had humble beginnings, they’ve evolved into coveted, beloved structures. According to Wright, it’s the “cultural knowledge” of what the homes represent that keep them so popular. “The style is so warm and comfortable, and it just says summer,” Wright says. “It just screams summer.” Seen in movies and TV shows, the style is further embedded into pop culture as emblematic of warm weather and easy living.
No comments:
Post a Comment