Expanding a small Cape Cod house
is a common design problem, and one
which is often poorly solved. This
case study focuses on successfully
adding space to a typical Cape Cod
having the following characteristics:
24x32-foot footprint; living room one
side, kitchen and dining room on the
other; two small gable dormers in
front, large shed dormer in back; two
small bedrooms over the living room,
master bedrooms over the
kitchen/dining rooms; two baths up
and a half bath down; full basement;
and one-car attached garage on a slab
(see Figure 1).
First Things First
Expanding any house involves two
different processes. First, you expand
the space, developing the overall volume
and shape of the house to end up
with exterior