Architecture for the way we live

BY TOM GROENING

OUR RECENT vacation trip to Wellfleet on Cape Cod offered many pleasant diversions—ocean swimming, long walks on sandy beaches on both the ocean and bay sides, and enjoying the quiet vibe of that small New England village.

For me, a perennial joy of these visits is taking in the beauty of the architecture, particularly its residential expressions. Cape Cod is rich in history, of course, with the settlers of nearby Plymouth stopping at several points along the Cape’s bay shore as they approached their final destination.

And though the Pilgrims didn’t settle on the Cape, it wasn’t long before they began establishing villages there, and so there are examples of early houses.

The Pilgrims hailed from the East Midlands part of England and some scholars say the houses we now know as Cape Cods were replicating the style common in that part of the homeland.

I recently learned that Ipswich, Mass. has the distinction of having the most surviving examples of what are known as “first period” homes, an era defined as 1620 to 1720.

The houses I love on the Cape are mostly from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Some feature clapboards on the wall facing the street— ”putting up a good front”—with cedar shingles covering the other walls and often the roof. There’s something pleasing to the eye about the textures, dimensions, roof angles, and the way these homes sit in the landscape. In fact, those ratios, according to Middle Age Italian mathematician Fibonacci, replicate patterns repeated in nature. It’s not clear whether those early builders were drawing on those natural ratios or if they just made good sense.

I’ve searched for floor plans for early Capes and been surprised to see a large room spanning the back half of the house, with small closet-like rooms which apparently were used for those who were sick, close as they were to the large fireplace.