Cape Cod Style homes
Cape Cod style residential architecture can be found all over the Kansas City area, but large concentrations of especially good examples can be found in Prairie Village, Fairway and Brookside, but most especially in Prairie Village. The photos above and below are a few good examples of Cape Cod style homes that are for sale in our area. You’ll notice they have similar characteristics such as:
- Dormers
- Steep Roof with side gables
- Small roof overhang
- Symmetrical – common for door to be in center
- Wood shingles or siding (cedar shingles common here)
- Hardwood Floors
- Shutters
In Kansas City, these smaller, traditional cape-cod style houses were built from the 30’s-50’s. Cape cods were built post 1950’s and are still being built today, but generally not in the same way or in such high concentrations as they were built in the early part of the 20th century. The Cape Cods in Brookside and Fairway are generally going to be a bit older than the ones in Prairie Village just because of how and when the city was developed and the history of our sprawl, but just because they are newer doesn’t mean they are necessarily better. Many of the homes in Prairie Village were built with cinder block foundations which have not held up as well as other foundation types. But that’s a separate subject… Anyway, the history of the cape cod style dates back to the homes that were built by English settlers on our new england coast 17th century, with adaptations over time. The renewed interest in the Cape Cod style sprung back up in the 1930’s, as they began filling many neighborhoods across the country because of their small, efficient size and the relative ease to mass-produce.
