We spoke with top-performing real estate agent Jeffrey Huss of southeast Pennsylvania about the pros and cons of owning these simple houses. These are sometimes referred to as the “starter homes” of the early settlers.
#Cape cod house style windows#
There were two smaller styles, now rare: the “half Cape,” which had a single, off-center door with two windows to one side, and the “three-quarter Cape,” which was a smidge wider and added one window to the opposite side of the door.
#Cape cod house style full#
And most early Capes (1690s to 1850s) were even tinier than the full Cape described above. Ingenuity thrives in small spaces and harsh environments.īut the end result is, undeniably, cute. Nonstop punishment from the salty air gives the cedar shingles their trademark silver color, and the enchanting, steep “captain’s stairway” provides space-saving access to storage in the attic. The huge, fairy-tale-cottage chimney? It provides much needed warmth to the small rooms surrounding it. The low, homey ceiling? It conserves heat. That quaint, steep roof? It’s so snow won’t accumulate. But every charming detail is a product of the harsh environment of the colonial Northeast. The very term “Cape Cod house” brings visions of bulky knit sweaters and sunsets over the bay while you sip a highball and the ocean breeze ruffles your hair. Source: (A n v e s h / Unsplash) Charm, grown from hardship What’s it like to live in one? Let’s take a look at their history, and at the advantages and challenges they offer today.
A simple front door in the middle, flanked symmetrically by shuttered windows on clapboard siding.Ĭape Cods - or “Capes,” for short - are downright charming. A steep, shingled roof with its triangular gables facing left and right. Your hands calloused and raw, you build a simple, utilitarian shelter that you pray will allow your family to survive the harsh winter on the horizon.Ĭenturies later, your ancestors exclaim, “How cute!”
A rustic brick and stone fireplace warms the living room and recalls the finely detailed chimney that anchors the west end of the house outside.You are a stern and hardy Puritan settler in the 17th century. Living, dining, kitchen, breakfast nook, study, screened-in porch, all bedrooms and some bathrooms take in the spectacular bay view. Inside, a grand entry hall with a curved stair and balcony above sets up entry to a sequence of spaces that stretch out parallel to the shoreline. A broad back porch provides a covered transition from house to landscape and frames sweeping views. Sinuous lines created by arches and brackets balance the linear geometry of the main mass of the house and are playful and fun. A continuous flared roof overhang brings down the scale and helps shade the first-floor windows. A third gambrel defines the garage that is set off to one side. A hip-roofed dormer-with an arch-top center window and two tiny side windows-highlights the center above the porch and caps off the orderly but not too formal entry area. Two classic shingle style gambrel roofs run perpendicular to the main body of the house and flank an entry porch with two stout, robust columns.
Pleasant Heights is a newly constructed home that sits atop a large bluff in Chatham overlooking Pleasant Bay, the largest salt water estuary on Cape Cod.
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