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What is a Cape Cod-style house?
We know them and love them, but how did the iconic architectural style become synonymous with New England?
New Englanders are no strangers to the Cape Cod-style house. The classic architecture can be found across the country, but you’ll find it most abundantly along the coast of New England.
“Capes are indicative of the history of who we are in New England,” said Mike Tartamella, managing principal at Patrick Ahearn Architect, a Boston- and Martha’s Vineyard-based architecture firm that often works on Cape-style houses. “It speaks to the Yankee mentality of being minimal to start, and then as you need more, you grow.”
What is a Cape Cod-style house?
The easily recognizable Cape Cod-style house uses simplicity to its advantage for timeless charm. Typically, this style house is a symmetrical rectangular shape, with a steep roof, a central chimney, and a central front door. The style best suits a one-story home, but second floors are common (considered one-and-a-half-stories) — though they’re often slightly smaller with sloping walls due to its steep roof.
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A defining feature of a Cape-style house is the side-gabled roof, meaning the slopes of the roof face the home’s front and back, and the gables are on either side. This roof style allows snow and rain to easily slide off, so it’s fitting in colder climates like New England.
What is the origin of the name and style?
Born out of the traditional English cottage, early New England settlers adapted the Cape Cod-style house to combat harsh winters. The side-gabled roof, low ceilings, central chimney, and small size of the homes all combat weather conditions and conserve heat efficiently.
In 1800, president of Yale College Timothy Dwight IV coined the name “Cape Cod House” for the popular style in his book, Travels in New England and New York, after he saw the house style in Yarmouth.
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“They’re not typically over-the-top or showy, but it’s a really understated type of architecture that was baked more out of necessity,” Tartamella said. “People weren’t building homes to show how big they could build a house — it’s the antithesis of the opulent era of the Newport mansions. It’s more modest,” he said.
One of the oldest houses in the region, the Atwood-Higgins house, is a Cape-style house that was built in the 1730s on a remote road in Wellfleet.
In the classic edition of Monopoly, Cape Cod-style houses may have been the key to your success (or downfall). According to Realtor.com, the plastic green houses that are bought to raise taxes on properties are based on Cape Cod-style houses.
How have Cape Cod-style houses evolved over time?
“Renovating Capes is always exciting,” Tartamella said. “Capes have always been known as being very easy to add to, and they offer a lot of expandability.”
Common renovations include opening up the ceiling, adding dormers or additions, and taking down walls for open floor plans. For many, the goal is preserving the classic architecture while creating additional space for a more modern living experience.
What are the different types of Cape-style houses?
While a full-Cape is the classic style, there are other variations of Cape homes that ditch the symmetry:
- A half-Cape has two windows on either the left or right of the front door.
- A three-quarter-Cape has one window on one side of the door, and two on the other side.
- The rarest variety is the quarter-Cape, which features only one window and the door.
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