Cape Cod Renovation

by Frank Shirley Architects

This modest Cape Cod home sat unchanged for over three decades. The house held sentimental value for our client but they had grown weary of its shortcomings: a lack of natural light, tiny bedrooms and inadequate access to the landscape. Built in 1974, the greatest constraint was the inferior construction. The roof was framed with spliced 2x4’s, no sheathing existed behind the T1-11 siding, insulation was non-existent and concrete walls extended five feet above grade.

Natural light drove the design. We gave the previously unprepossessing facades a strong Cape identity, rooted in the local vernacular. At the first floor, a dreary stair hall was brightened with a new entry door and sidelights. An office was connected with the site via large doors onto a new terrace. At the second floor, two undersized bedrooms were joined to create a master suite. The roof rafters were replaced with efficient manufactured trusses and the entire house received spray foam insulation, new sheathing, new sustainable wood floors and a high-efficiency boiler. Today the house remains a modest 1900sf, but is wholly transformed.