Cape Cod vs Colonial Revival
Cape Cod evolved from Colonial Revival — its 20th-century popularity is tied to the Colonial Revival; the colonial original predates and feeds that revival.
Cape Cod
A compact, symmetrical one-to-one-and-a-half-story New England cottage with a steep gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboard or shingle skin, built low against coastal wind.
- Steeply pitched side-gabled roof with low eaves
- One to one-and-a-half stories, often with gabled dormers
- Large central chimney serving clustered rooms
- Symmetrical façade with centered entrance
- Clapboard or weathered cedar-shingle cladding
Colonial Revival
An American revival of Georgian and Federal colonial-era building — symmetrical brick or clapboard façades, a centered classically framed entrance, and balanced rows of multi-paned, shuttered windows.
- Strictly symmetrical façade organized about a central axis
- Accentuated central entrance with pediment, fanlight, or portico
- Balanced rows of double-hung, multi-paned windows with shutters
- Side-gabled or hipped roof with classical cornice detailing (dentils)
- Brick or clapboard walls with white-painted classical trim
At a glance
| Cape Cod | Colonial Revival | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Colonial origins; 20th-c. revival | 1876–1955 |
| Discipline | Architecture | Architecture |
| Region | New England, Massachusetts, Northeastern United States | United States, Canada |
| Family | Vernacular | Revival |
| Formal traits | steep-gable, central-chimney, symmetrical, shingled | symmetrical, central-entry, shuttered, dentil-cornice |
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