Cape Cod Style Architecture
A Cape Cod house is a low, broad, single-story frame building with a moderately steep pitched gabled roof, a large central chimney, and very little ornamentation. Originating in New England in the 17th century, the simple symmetric design was constructed of local materials to withstand the stormy, stark weather of Cape Cod. It features a central front door flanked by multi-paned windows either singly or in pairs. The space above the 1st floor was often left unfinished, with or without windows on the gable ends.
The style enjoyed a boom in popularity and adaptation to modern needs in the 1930s-1950s, particularly with Colonial Revival embellishments. It remains a feature of New England homebuilding.
The Cape Cod style originated with the colonists who came from England to New England. They adapted the English Hall and parlor house, using local materials to best protect against New England's notoriously stormy weather. Over the next several generations emerged a 1- to 1 1⁄2-story house with wooden shutters and clapboard or shingle exterior.
The Reverend Timothy Dwight IV (1752–1817), president of Yale University from 1795–1817, coined the term "Cape Cod House" after a visit to the Cape in 1800. His observations were published posthumously in Travels in New England and New York (1821–22). The style was popularized more broadly in a slightly more elaborate Colonial Revival variant popularized in the 1930s–50s, though traditional unornamented capes remain common in New England.
Using local materials – cedar for shingles and pine for framing and flooring – settlers built houses adapted to New England’s extreme winter climate. Temperatures in January and February can drop to -20F, with snow accumulations often reaching several feet. To fight the chill, they built massive central chimneys and low ceilinged rooms to conserve heat. The steep roof characteristic of New England homes minimized snow load. Finally, colonists installed shutters on the windows to hold back heavy winds.
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