Cape Cod Style Architecture
Encyclopedia
Cape Cod style architecture refers to early homes constructed by Europe
an settler
s after arriving in New England
in the late 17th century. Traditional Cape Cod
houses were very simple: one and one half stories, symmetrically designed with a central front door surrounded by two multi-paned windows on each side. Homes were designed to withstand the stormy, stark weather of the Massachusetts
coast. Modern Cape Cod architecture
still draws from colonial designs.
s designed houses that provided safety from New England’s extreme winter
climate. Temperatures in January and February can drop to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and multiple-feet snow pile-ups occur frequently. To fight the chill, the Pilgrims built extensive central chimney
s and low ceilinged rooms to conserve heat. Most Cape Cod homes faced the south, which allowed sunlight
to enter the windows and provide additional heat. The steep roof characteristic of New England homes also prevented excessive amounts of snow from accumulating on the house. Fluctuating Cape Cod temperatures presented the problem of moisture
within interior walls, which was addressed by using wainscoting: a design element still prevalent today. Finally, the Pilgrims dealt with stormy winds by installing shutter
s on the windows. A trademark of Cape Cod home design, the shutter is now an aesthetic element instead of a functional one. bacon
s out of cedar trees, while using pine
and oak
for hardwood flooring.
from England
ran at a high price, so New Englanders arranged small panes (six inches by eight inches) in patterns to form large windows. The smaller panes were less likely to break during the long voyage from England to the colonies. The settlers’ limited economic resources kept their homes small and free from superfluous décor.
s. The lower floor consisted of a hall
for daily living (including cooking, dining, and gathering) and the parlor, or master bedroom.
, Cape Cod homes are designed to blend into the landscape. Natural colors and simple, subtle design elements are common inside and out.
es, although modern Capes sometimes include screened-in porches located to one side of the home. The decorative highlight of Cape Cod homes is the front door, which is painted in distinct colors, bears an ornament
or wreath
, and has intricate carving
. The windows of the home are surrounded by shutters that either match the front door or are painted white. Other exterior design features include a steep roof with a small overhang, a white picket fence
around the front yard, a detached two-car garage
, and an outdoor shower
located in the backyard.
s are painted white, and most rooms are finished with white crown molding
. The clean look of the white detailing draws attention to another important feature: hardwood flooring. Matching hardwood floors run throughout the entire house except the kitchen, which is usually floored with linoleum
or ceramic tiles. The white finishing also accentuates the wall colors, which often reflect the colorful Cape Cod seaside, including ocean blues, sand beiges, and sunset reds.
s found throughout the country. While the original half, three-quarter, and full Cape styles are still common, homeowners experimented over the years by doubling the full Cape and adding new wings onto the rear end. Homeowners also added roof dormer
s for increased space, light, and ventilation
. Despite the changes, -story Capes are still a popular, affordable style on the housing market.
, when Americans sought affordable housing
options.
became the most popular architect
in America after World War II
because of his role in modernizing the Cape and promoting an appealing living option for middle-class families. After the Great Depression, Wills focused on designing small, 1000 square foot Colonial Revival
houses. Rather than reproducing traditional Cape Cod–style homes, Wills refigured the design to include modern amenities that addressed demands for increased privacy and technology, including bathrooms, kitchens, and garages. The simplicity, functionality, and livability of the first Cape Cod houses remained prevalent features of Wills’ updated design. Wills published eight books and numerous magazine articles about architecture, which helped spread his modern Cape design throughout the country. Wills’ work stood in stark contrast to the Modernist architectural movement adopted by his peers. While urban architecture pushed skyward, dominated by larger than life skyscraper
s, Wills downsized architecture and allowed human scale to define his work. While his Colonial Revival house targeted a less prestigious market than other Modernist architects, the work of Royal Barry Wills continues to profoundly impact the middle class housing market.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an settler
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
s after arriving in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in the late 17th century. Traditional Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
houses were very simple: one and one half stories, symmetrically designed with a central front door surrounded by two multi-paned windows on each side. Homes were designed to withstand the stormy, stark weather of the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
coast. Modern Cape Cod architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
still draws from colonial designs.
Climate Influences
The PilgrimPilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s designed houses that provided safety from New England’s extreme winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
climate. Temperatures in January and February can drop to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and multiple-feet snow pile-ups occur frequently. To fight the chill, the Pilgrims built extensive central chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s and low ceilinged rooms to conserve heat. Most Cape Cod homes faced the south, which allowed sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...
to enter the windows and provide additional heat. The steep roof characteristic of New England homes also prevented excessive amounts of snow from accumulating on the house. Fluctuating Cape Cod temperatures presented the problem of moisture
Moisture
Humidity is the amount of moisture the air can hold before it rains. Moisture refers to the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts...
within interior walls, which was addressed by using wainscoting: a design element still prevalent today. Finally, the Pilgrims dealt with stormy winds by installing shutter
Shutter
Shutter may refer to:Windows:*Window shutter, a solid window covering used to block light and winds*Plantation Shutters/Jigsaw Shutters, interior wooden louvred shutters to control heat, light and privacy...
s on the windows. A trademark of Cape Cod home design, the shutter is now an aesthetic element instead of a functional one. bacon
Natural Resource Influences
Isolated from Europe, early New Englanders used natural resources available in the environment for building materials. Colonists made shingleShingle
Shingle can refer to:*A flat covering element for a roof, including**Shake , a wooden shingle that is made from split logs**Roof shingle, a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements...
s out of cedar trees, while using pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
for hardwood flooring.
Economic Influences
GlassGlass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
ran at a high price, so New Englanders arranged small panes (six inches by eight inches) in patterns to form large windows. The smaller panes were less likely to break during the long voyage from England to the colonies. The settlers’ limited economic resources kept their homes small and free from superfluous décor.
Home Layout
The first Cape Cod–style houses fall into three categories: the half, three-quarter, and full Cape. The half Cape bears a door to one side of the house and two windows on one side of the door; the three-quarter Cape has a door with two windows on one side and a single window on the other, while the full Cape consists of a front door in the center of the home, flanked on each side by two windows. Otherwise, the three categories of early Cape Cod houses were nearly identical in layout. Inside the front door, a central staircase led to the small upper level, which consisted of two children’s bedroomBedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
s. The lower floor consisted of a hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
for daily living (including cooking, dining, and gathering) and the parlor, or master bedroom.
Design Elements
Located in an area of abundant wildlifeWildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
, Cape Cod homes are designed to blend into the landscape. Natural colors and simple, subtle design elements are common inside and out.
Exterior Design
External walls of classic Cape Cod houses are covered with unpainted shingles or clapboarding. After prolonged exposure to natural elements, the wood obtains an earthy gray color. The houses usually lack front porchPorch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
es, although modern Capes sometimes include screened-in porches located to one side of the home. The decorative highlight of Cape Cod homes is the front door, which is painted in distinct colors, bears an ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
or wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
, and has intricate carving
Carving
- Arts :*Bone carving*Chip carving*Gourd carving or Gourd art*Ice carving or Ice sculpture*Ivory carving*Stone carving**Petroglyph*Vegetable carving*Wood carving- Others :*Data carving and/or file carving, two closely related data recovery techniques...
. The windows of the home are surrounded by shutters that either match the front door or are painted white. Other exterior design features include a steep roof with a small overhang, a white picket fence
Picket fence
A picket fence is a variety of fence that has been used mostly for domestic boundaries. Until the introduction of advertising on fences in the 1980s, a Cricket field was also usually surrounded by a picket fence, giving rise to the expression rattling the pickets for a ball hit firmly into the...
around the front yard, a detached two-car garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
, and an outdoor shower
Shower
A shower is an area in which one bathes underneath a spray of water.- History :...
located in the backyard.
Interior Design
One of the most important design elements specific to Cape Cod homes is the trim color. Interior doors, cabinets, and mantelMantel
Mantel is a municipality in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria in Germany....
s are painted white, and most rooms are finished with white crown molding
Crown molding
Crown molding encapsulates a large family of moldings which are designed to gracefully flare out to a finished top edge. Crown molding is generally used for capping walls, pilasters, and cabinets, and is used extensively in the creation of interior and exterior cornice assemblies and door and...
. The clean look of the white detailing draws attention to another important feature: hardwood flooring. Matching hardwood floors run throughout the entire house except the kitchen, which is usually floored with linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
or ceramic tiles. The white finishing also accentuates the wall colors, which often reflect the colorful Cape Cod seaside, including ocean blues, sand beiges, and sunset reds.
Modern Adaptations
The houses of early New England settlers seem distantly related to modern Cape Cod–style homes and cottageCottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
s found throughout the country. While the original half, three-quarter, and full Cape styles are still common, homeowners experimented over the years by doubling the full Cape and adding new wings onto the rear end. Homeowners also added roof dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s for increased space, light, and ventilation
Ventilation
Ventilation is movement of air in and out of an enclosed space, including a body. It is used in the following contexts:* Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation...
. Despite the changes, -story Capes are still a popular, affordable style on the housing market.
Revival of the Cape
The evolution and growth of Cape Cod style architecture is largely due to unstable economic conditions. The Cape thrived as a prevalent style until about 1850, when Americans began viewing the Cape as a “poor person’s” or “farmer’s” home, and turned instead to two-story colonials. However, the Cape experienced a nationwide revival during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, when Americans sought affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
options.
Influence of Royal Barry Wills
Royal Barry WillsRoyal Barry Wills
Royal Barry Wills was a preeminent Boston architect and author. He was an award-winning master of the Cape Cod style house, particularly its 1930s-1950s Colonial Revival incarnation...
became the most popular architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
in America after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
because of his role in modernizing the Cape and promoting an appealing living option for middle-class families. After the Great Depression, Wills focused on designing small, 1000 square foot Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
houses. Rather than reproducing traditional Cape Cod–style homes, Wills refigured the design to include modern amenities that addressed demands for increased privacy and technology, including bathrooms, kitchens, and garages. The simplicity, functionality, and livability of the first Cape Cod houses remained prevalent features of Wills’ updated design. Wills published eight books and numerous magazine articles about architecture, which helped spread his modern Cape design throughout the country. Wills’ work stood in stark contrast to the Modernist architectural movement adopted by his peers. While urban architecture pushed skyward, dominated by larger than life skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s, Wills downsized architecture and allowed human scale to define his work. While his Colonial Revival house targeted a less prestigious market than other Modernist architects, the work of Royal Barry Wills continues to profoundly impact the middle class housing market.