Cape Cod Houses

A combination of English colonialism and New England’s famous stormy weather helped shaped the dimensions of the Cape Cod style of house in the 17th Century.

English colonists arriving in New England adopted the hall and parlor as standards while incorporating native materials into the construction to guard against the elements.

The traditional low and broad-framed one-and-a-half storey structure had steep roofs with end gables and a dominant chimney in the middle. Eventually, wooden shutters and clapboard or shingle features were added to the outside of one- to one-and-a-half storey houses.

The Cape Cod style, which spawned arevivalist offspring in the 1930s to 50s, took its name from the Reverend Timothy Dwight IV (1752-1817), who was president of Yale University from 1795 until the year of his death. He coined the term “Cape Cod House” after visiting the Cape in 1800, first appearing in literature more than 20 years later in Travels in New England and New York.

The Colonial Capes were relatively small at 1,000-2,000 square feet with unusual window placements of nine and six panes in the gable ends.

The style conformed to basic symmetry with a central front door and the large chimney serving fireplaces in each room, the master bedroom generally being on the first floor.

The Colonial Revival Capes of the mid-20th Century, though, had the chimney at the side of the house.

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