Seattle 4/3 Cape Cod with a View
ARDELL on 01 28, 2012
Some time ago I wrote about Seattle Starter Home Styles and we talked about the value of having bedrooms up above the main floor vs down in the basement. While that would describe most any 2-Story home, before we get to 2-Story we have the one and a half story “Starter Home” Style. This one happens to be a Cape Cod…
with a view.
I am reminded while listing this property of The Tim’s comment of another home featured over on Seattle Bubble:
“The listing agent claims that the home’s architectural style is “Cape Cod,”
but it doesn’t look like any Cape Cod home I’ve ever seen.”
I’m wondering if this home “looks like” a Cape Cod to Tim. Likely yes, but it was a Cape Cod before 2003 when the “1/2 story” dormers were added to give it that more traditional “Cape Code” look.
Often I see a “McMansion” being called a Cape Cod for some unknown reason, but a true Cape Cod is a Starter Home with a Starter Home Price. This one as example will soon be listed at $339,950 which is clearly a starter home price for a view home in Seattle.
Back to what makes it a “Cape Cod”.
The roof pitch is steeper than the Bungalow Style noted in Part 1 of Seattle Starter Homes. Another “signature feature” is a chimney in the center almost directly in line with the front door. Not sure what that chimney is for though, given the chimney to the left of the house is the fireplace in the living room.
Maybe my friend Jerry Gropp will pop in to tell us what the center chimney is all about…otherwise I’ll do an update after the Home Inspection with the rationale for that 2nd and centered chimney. appears to be over the kitchen.
Perhaps there was once a “cooking fireplace” where the new induction range now stands? Not sure, but I don’t think so as this home was built in 1943, long after “cooking fireplaces” were all the rage in American Homes. 
Love this quote about Cape Cod homes from PBS This Old House
“17th-century settlers drew on a shipwright’s skills to build a tight house
that was almost a ship upon land,
able to withstand the fiercest Nor’easter.”
My personal opinion as to what is and what is not a “Cape Cod” has more to do with the top floor vs the main floor. A Cape Cod should have a center staircase with walls on either side almost immediately as you enter the home.
At the top of the stairs should be a full bathroom with bedrooms, one to the right and one to the left. Each of those two bedrooms has an angled ceiling given it is in the “steep pitch” of the roof as noted above. The view from the “dormered” bedrooms should be about the same as the front rooms on the main floor.
The dormered section of each of the 2 upper floor bedrooms should form an “alcove”. This one has a desk neatly tucked into that space to enjoy the view while working.
A Cape Cod doesn’t usually have a front porch/deck over the garage as this one does, but because of the view from that front seating area, it wouldn’t make sense NOT to have patio type deck in this position.
The yard of a Cape Code can be a quiet getaway when the garage is tucked under the home in the front, as it is on this one. One of the advantages of an older vs newer home of this style is that the “privacy” hedges are fully grown.
The main floor of a Cape Cod usually has 2 bedrooms. This home once had 5 bedrooms with 2 on the main, 2 upstairs and a guest bedroom in the basement. 3 baths…one on each floor. But I call the basement bedroom and bath a “guest area” as the window is not full sized to be “a bedroom” even though it has always been used as a bedroom.
The two bedrooms and bathroom on the main were converted to A Large Master Bedroom with a with a view and an updated claw tub bathroom
…plus a sitting room with French Doors to the “Grotto” that leads to the waterfall
I like to think of a Cape Cod Home as a Little Starter Home that Lives LARGE. Great American Style that is easily expanded for a lifetime of enjoyment. The view on this particular 4/3 Cape Cod, with garage and fully fenced yard, make it a place you’ll love to come home to…and hate to leave.
About the Author: Ardell DellaLoggia
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11 Responses to “Seattle 4/3 Cape Cod with a View”
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Yes, this home you’re listing looks like a Cape Cod to me, even without the dormers. Here are a few reasons the one I featured doesn’t (other than the lack of dormers):
Front door on the tall side of the house instead of the short side.
Fireplace/chimney not in the right place relative to the front door.
Roof pitch not all that steep.
Doesn’t even have a second floor, just the 1st floor and basement.
I agree, Tim. More like the 1 story with basement bungalow that was in my first Starter Home Style post than this “real” Cape Cod.
When I see a mega 4,000 sf house saying “Cape Cod”, I just scratch my head and wonder.
“Maybe my friend Jerry Gropp will pop in to tell us what the center chimney is all about…otherwise I’ll do an update after the Home Inspection with the rationale for that 2nd and centered chimney.”
I would expect that to be the exhaust for the original furnace (and it’s probably still in use with the updated furnace).
Sounds right to me, Marc! Thanks for popping by!
This is the type of home that is worthy of any amount of investment! I love the structure and the view made it even more valuable!
I think this house is big enough as a starter house and also looks like a Cape Cod to me but much bigger.
Yes, it is worthy of investment, cheaper than I thought with 5 bedrooms and nice view.
Denise,
It doesn’t have “5 bedrooms”.
The two bedrooms on the main have been remodeled into one large master bedroom. The former full “hall” bath on the main has been remodeled and is accessed both from the hall and from the newly refurbished Master on the Main, which has a sitting room and french doors out to the yard, plus a full view from the front picture window. The Master Bedroom suite now runs the full length of the house from front to back. So those two bedrooms are now one.
The two bedrooms up were redone in 2003 when the dormers and new wood floors were added.
The fourth bedroom in the basement with full bath does not have the Seattle Approved sized “bedroom window” so the listing says 3 bedrooms plus “guest area with bath”. It has always been used as a bedroom as far as I know, but technically not a bedroom.
Count records say 4 bedrooms, but they are counting the 2 up and the 2 on the main. Actually County may have changed that to 3 bedrooms when the Master Bedroom Remodel was permitted. Not sure.
The local name for the house by mls is “One and a Half Story with Basement”.
I will be there on Sunday Open House 1-4, yes on Super Bowl Sunday.
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/7907-S-112th-St-98178/home/198722
If anyone else isn’t hanging out at a Football Party all day, stop by!
that link goes to a sold property, that is shown in the picture, but closed in 2003?
oh it seems like a great Cape-Cod house. Aside from the great interior features it has, I love that it has great landscaping and a good view as well! This might pass as my weekend getaway house! Oh if only I have the luxury to buy a new house right this instant.
this cape-cod property looks amazing! But the view and landscaping are even more stunning. Definitely a great investment for the lucky people who can afford this.