House of the Week: Classy Cape Cod

In the late 17th century when the Puritan colonists arrived in New England, the half-timbered houses they left behind inspired their house designs in the New World. The new style evolved into a modest story and a half house with a center door, double windows on each side with operable shutters to keep out the  storms of New England. The Reverend Timothy Dwight, President of Yale University, is credited in naming the new style when he wrote a book about his travels along the coastline of Massachusetts where Cape Cod juts out into the Atlantic and christened the style of houses after their location. From the late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s, Colonial Revival Cape Cod houses became popular due to a renewed interest in Colonial America and Post WWII, Pattern Books including Cape Cod designs emerged to meet the demand for housing. The timeless appeal of this style continues today.  

This charming Cape Cod has a sought after location near churches, Easton Middle School, Idlewild Park, the YMCA  and downtown. The street has many mature trees and two towering oaks frame the sidewalk to this house’s front door. The classic exterior has red brick, white trim and black shutters paired with the symmetry of the entry door centered between double windows and single window roof dormers centered over the windows below. The one-story wing to one side of the house was originally a single-car garage with the entry from the rear street.  Converting this garage into livable space was seamless since the original garage door opening was in the back and there were windows on both the front and sides of the space.

On the day I visited, I admired the expansive open plan living-dining-kitchen area. One of the Owners explained they had removed part of the walls between the living room and the kitchen and dining rooms, leaving a post at the bearing point to define the spaces.  They also removed the wall between the kitchen and dining areas so there is now an easy flow with sunlight from three exterior walls. I liked how the back of one side of the wrap-around sofa defines the edge of the foyer and stairs and how the two club chairs opposite the sofa define the edge of the dining area.  With the fireplace and built-in millwork for family photographs and the spacious dining area with room for celebrations, this hub of the house is a perfect space for family fun. The dining room’s rear door leads to a sunroom with wrap-around windows, brick floors and another door to the rear yard’s play area.

The beautiful hardwood floors extend into the kitchen with its “L” and island arrangement.  The light walls of the living and dining room become the kitchen’s white cabinets with upgrades of a sold surface countertop, sleek cabinet hardware and stainless steel appliances.

A short hall leads past a full bath opposite a room that does dual duty as an office and another TV area but could easily become a guest room. I loved the black and white design of the bath across the hall with white tile floors of small tile, white tile countertop and wainscot with the accents of the black tile edge of the lavatory, wainscot border and the towel bars inset into the tile wall. At the end of the short hall is the former garage which is now a delightful playroom any growing family would appreciate. Two windows overlooking the rear play area and a side window makes this a sunny space for play and the exterior door directly accesses the play equipment area. The laundry is conveniently located at the back of the playroom and the center hall of the house.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms and another bath, with the space over the playroom connected to the primary bedroom now being used as a nursery.  The two bedrooms span the full depth of the house and are located between the stairs and the full bath.  Both bedrooms have sunlight from the front dormer, side gable window and the window in the shed dormer across the rear of the roof. This geometry creates spacious bed-sitting rooms so the child’s room has space to grow with sleeping and play areas.  If a dedicated bath for the primary bedroom is desired, the current nursery could easily become a primary bath that could stack over the laundry area below, leaving ample space for closets.   

Great neighborhood, large lot with mature trees for shade, off street parking from the rear street, classic architecture, family friendly floor plan with easy flow among the rooms and great upgrades just waiting for the next family to call it their own!

For more information about this property, contact Jimmy Higgins with Benson & Mangold Real Estate at 410-822-6665 (o), 410-310-6999 (c) or [email protected]. For more pictures and pricing, visit www.bensonandmangold.com ,“Equal Housing Opportunity”.

Photography by Eastern Shore Dronography LLC, Jeremy Vogel, President, 410-745-8310

Spy House of the Week is an ongoing series that selects a different home each week. The Spy’s Habitat editor Jennifer Martella makes these selections based exclusively on her experience as a architect.

Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.