Capes: Design Ideas for Renovating, Remodeling, and Build (Updating Classic America)

My husband and I are preparing to remodel a small Cape cottage in Washington State, where we plan to retire. This elegantly written and designed book provided us with loads of inspiration and revealed, through exquisite photography, how others have updated their Capes, retaining classic features, while tastefully opening up interior spaces to reflect the more contemporary tastes of today. Nishball's book is a great addition to our library, and I highly recommend this gem to Cape lovers and to anyone interested in this style and history of architecture.

Both a decorating and an architectural design book, Updating Classic American Capes is a handy reference and idea guide for anyone looking to make changes to an existing cape cod style house. The author shows before-and-after floor plans that illustrate common layout problems and how they can be eliminated. It's easy to apply changes people in this book have made to one's own situation. Issues common to capes--lack of light upstairs, headroom, square footage--are addressed with various solutions, ranging from working within the existing confines of the structure to turning a cape into a colonial, gambrel, etc.Wait...a colonial isn't a cape, you say! No, the title is Updating..., and sometimes the solution to a lack of space is to expand upward. A few of the houses in the book are expanded into full two-stories; some retain the look of a cape through clever use of gables and dormers, while others are completely transformed.But there are plenty of examples of remodels that preserve or even improve the sense of "historic old cape" within the universal House shape. (Yes, the triangle-atop-a-rectangle is how children of almost every culture draw a house.) As a remodeler, I fold over the corners of pages that will be of particular value to me for future reference. Generally, I'll have ten or so such corners in a useful book. In my copy of this book, about half of them are folded.Once you've made structural changes to your cape, you can use this book for the decorating process. It covers the various historical periods of the cape and shows how those styles can be adapted to one's own home.This is a great picture book, and you don't really need to read any of the text to enjoy the photos in here--but the book is well-written and informative, too. All around, a wonderful book for would-be/will-be remodelers and Coffee Table Book aficionados alike.

ordered this book to help guide us through a renovation of our little cape, this book provided some good ideas, and of course much inspiration for our home. would recommend, gave it four stars--would have liked to see more pics in the book...

This is a superb book for anyone remodeling who is looking to maintain their homes style while updating it. It shows the floor plans before and after and is filled to the brim with beautiful photos. This isn't just for cape owners, the little details like built ins and decorative columns are the little added features that make a house interior shine no matter what style your home is.

I purchased this book with the idea that I would find some design ideas for practical living in a cape; in particular, bedrooms and closets. The book was published in 2003, my first comment is that every page has a picture and there are 215 pages! I am not certain that I currently agree with the comment on the back cover that this should be a handbook ...I will take the time to read it more thoroughly and may update my review. I purchased this book used and am very happy that I did not pay full retail.

Jane Gitlin's book is a pleasure to read -- again and again. My wife and I own a classic Cape. We've spent the past 10 years renovating it, bit by bit. Now we're contemplating a major exterior remodeling project and Jane's book is a treasure trove of excellent ideas. The text and photos offer many creative alternatives to the standard, time-worn designs suggested by many architects and contractors. The book truly renewed our sense of pride in owning a classic Cape. Bravo!

My husband and i just recently purchase a Cape house and were use to living in less traditional houses....This book gives us so many inspirations on how to make our new house more us! We took it out of the library before we moved in and.....haven't returned it yet! I think it's time to get one of our own! We took out 50+ books but this one was just what we wanted to see sooooo many ideas! Not frumpy - clean lines, open spaces, etc...

This is a great book for owners of Cape homes looking for ideas on updates. The text explains in layman's terms what makes a house a "Cape" and the essential architectural elements to consider when making changes. The photos and text cover a couple of dozen Cape homes that have been updated. The possibilities for renovations are endless, yet the book presents these in a manner that allows the reader to visualize projects ranging from small to large. Both indoor and outdoor updates are addressed. While not an architectural guide, this book is a good starting point for a Cape owner with expansion or renovation plans in mind.

Good deal

An excellant book, easy to read and easy to understand language. The pictures are lovely and will make you want to re create a little bit of cape cod in your own home.