Cape Cod Homes

Crashnburn

Crashnburn

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Crashnburn
I was raised in a ranch (home) on a ranch in KS. I bought and sold a ranch in Omaha and another one in So. CA. I currently live in a ranch in Silicon Valley and own another one in Livermore.

When I first moved to Silicon Valley, I was taken by a Cape Cod, but it sold quickly, and I've done well in this ranch. I'll probably be moving out of CA in a year or two and think I might like to buy a or build a Cape Cod wherever I land.

I've never been in one, so all I know is what they look like. They are few and far between in this area, so they aren't that popular. I'm just wondering if someone could enlighten me as to the pro's and cons of Cape Cods? Thanks.
 
Never heard it called a Cape Cod either. But we lived in a Cape for over a decade. Pretty home, simple box with a fairly steep pitch roof, sometimes too steep so a dormer is put on the back to give you a full second story. Four rooms down, and then at least two upstairs.

As to ranch homes, I never knew they were called "ranchers" until I moved to the south.
 
I first thought you want to move to Cape Cod from California and I was going to write "pack warm clothes". I didn't know it back then (not a big architecture buff), but I lived in (didn't own) a Cape Cod style home when I lived in that New England area (just north of the border). Not much to say - it's a house and pretty standard in that area so almost everyone lives in one. As already mentioned, the second floor was pretty much useless. We ended up using it as storage, a large closet space for out of season clothing and a desk space nobody really ever used. Main floor was spacious and the basement was built out and livable. It was very efficient for heating but I'm guessing it was just well built. Your mileage may vary depending on the built quality.
 
I thought you meant you were moving to Cape Cod, too, and my suggestion was going to be to make sure you were aware of the cost of housing there...

Here within rock throwing distance of Mass, we do call them "cape cods", or at least some people do. My take is that they were originally designed as small and energy efficient, with a roof that could handle the rain and snow load that we get as well as the folks in Mass. I rented the top half of one before I bought my house, which is a ranch. Here where it's so wet, I'd probably not like a cape cod, because the second story is usually finished, and as others have pointed out you need dormers. To me that means there is likely to be lousy ventilation between the roof and the interior walls, so mold and rot can be a problem. I much prefer my place, which has an unfinished attic, gables, and plenty of ventilation. Everything stays nice and dry...knock on wood.

All that said, if I lived someplace dry, my opinions would probably change a lot.
 
We call them a cape. Generally a smaller house with two floors. The second floor has dormer windows because the roof slope cuts into the ceiling height on the second floor. Not too many being built now as people like bigger.
 
I grew up in a full-dormered cape (rear dormer running the width of the house).

I don't understand the comment about poor ventilation, etc etc. Built properly, no house has a problem with mold and rot - regardless of design.
 
Bob Noel said:
I grew up in a full-dormered cape (rear dormer running the width of the house).

I don't understand the comment about poor ventilation, etc etc. Built properly, no house has a problem with mold and rot - regardless of design.
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Unless your state/county subscribes to the idiotic notion that homes need to be built so tight to be “energy efficient” that they end up having to add artificial leaks just to get fresh air exchange. The net result is a home so tight that the conditions are perfect for mold.
 
Thanks for the perspectives and information. I can see how one might think I'd be moving to the NE, but considering CA's cost of living, it would probably be cheaper there.

There's a good chance I'll move to either AZ or NV. Hard to find an area in either state that isn't dry.

There's a lot of time to decide, but based on comments here, I'll probably end up in a ranch, as they are a lot more common in the areas I'm considering, and are easier to build with a lot of interior room.
 
Crashnburn said:
There's a good chance I'll move to either AZ or NV. Hard to find an area in either state that isn't dry.
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"dry" as in arid? Or as in no-booze?
Crashnburn said:
There's a lot of time to decide, but based on comments here, I'll probably end up in a ranch, as they are a lot more common in the areas I'm considering, and are easier to build with a lot of interior room.
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I would think that the style of one's house would have something to do with it's climate and surroundings. Cape Cod is a cold/wet area so to me that style of house would look out of place in the American Southwest. I'd imagine there might be a thermodynamic reason Pueblo architecture is so popular down there.
 
Bob Noel said:
I grew up in a full-dormered cape (rear dormer running the width of the house).

I don't understand the comment about poor ventilation, etc etc. Built properly, no house has a problem with mold and rot - regardless of design.
Click to expand...

Built properly? I agree, and assuming the design is OK for the climate. Properly built cape cod is fine in NY. But they aren't all done correctly, and I don't know of a simple way to tell that they are.

I think the problems were related to new builds where they were making them basically air tight under the roof, or retrofit insulation where they also seal the space tight. Both happened a lot around the mid-80's I want to say.
 
asicer said:
"dry" as in arid? Or as in no-booze?

I would think that the style of one's house would have something to do with it's climate and surroundings. Cape Cod is a cold/wet area so to me that style of house would look out of place in the American Southwest. I'd imagine there might be a thermodynamic reason Pueblo architecture is so popular down there.
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Dry as in lack of humidity. I agree a Cape Cod would look out of place in the Desert SW but nothing says you have to build to match the environment. Might be a good idea to do so, but it is still a somewhat free country.

About a year ago, I ran across a listing of a Prescott, AZ hacienda surrounded by mature shade trees. It was not a good time to buy, but I really wanted to fly over there, pick it up for the future, and rent it out in the meantime. It didn't stay on the market much more than a week!

After looking at listing after listing of homes on plots of desert, I can see why my mother-in-law wanted trees around the house. My wife, mother-in-law, and I were going to move together out of CA. (She's the only mother-in-law I've had, but from stories I've heard, she's one of the better ones.) Still, I have no idea what will happen after I'm widowed. I still want to buy an airpark home, and NV seems to have more close to civilization than AZ.
 
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