I am currently reading "The Big House, a century in the life of an american summer house" by George Howe Colt. It's a wonderfully written account of an extended family and their relationship to each other, as seen primarily through the context of a fabulous shingle style mansion on Cape Cod. The book is so vividly written, but disappointingly there are no photographs of the house. And as an architect, I'm longing to see what the actual house looked like.
I have been spending vacations on the same part of the Cape most of my life, first in Woods Hole and then later in West Falmouth. Those gigantic grey shingled summer houses were in the background of my childhood summers. I find myself, all these years later, completely captivated by them. I suppose this is one reason I found Mr. Colt's account of his family's life in the house so interesting. I never realized this, although these impressive summer houses from the turn of the century were built in other locations around New England, they were really only built on a small portion of Cape Cod. Mr. Colt describes how tracks of waterfront land were developed by wealthy Boston businessmen during the turn of last century. And that these developments were almost exclusively built along the Buzzards Bay side of the Cape. This was mainly because people had accesss to this part of the Cape via the railroad from Boston to Woods Hole. Access to the rest of the cape was very limited and difficult.
These magnificent shingled beach houses were so impressive to me as a child, and still inspire me as an adult.
Since George Howe Colte didn't include any photos in his book, I thought I would share some of my photos of my favorite houses from the area.
This is one of my favorite houses in Woods Hole. It faces "Little Harbor". Like most of the best houses, you can't see it from the street. I love the stone porch, and all of the different rooflines. I also really like the fact that this house still looks like a summer cottage. It doesn't look "renovated" or "winterized". It looks like a house you would only find at the sea side and not in a suburban neighborhood.
I love how the shingles form the roof and the walls. Sometimes it's hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. I love the somewhat simple porch posts and railing details. This house is a great mix of simple and complex. The overall shapes are pretty simple, and then in contrast there are some really complex shapes, like the dormers and fancy windows within the overall large simple roof form.
The house is perched up on a hill overlooking the harbor.
This is one of my all time favorites. I believe this was originaly the carriage house of the house in the last photos. Great Entrance!!
Maybe you had to drive through this entrance, on your horse or in your carriage, to get to the house.
This house on Chappaquoit Island, was significantly renovated a few years ago. It's a beautiful house and I think the architect did a nice job, but it feels a little overdone to me. Maybe too much detail and not enough moments of calm.
This house is also on Chappaquoit. I don't think it's been winterized. I love that it looks a little tattered. The windows all look like orginals. I love the hulking shape of the main gambrel roof next to the finely detailed porch.
This is the back of that same house. The right side looks like a later addition. Unfortunate choice of roof shape and massing.
This is the front of the Woods Hole house.
This is such a grand house yet it is not ostentatious.
Another quintescential shingle style house on Penzance Island, which according to Mr Colt, was the fanciest of the developments along buzzards bay.
This is a great windswept cottage in Woods Hole. Although I find all the different paint colors detract from the beauty of the house.
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