The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Cape ahead of its time
TRUMBULL — The Cape Cod home is an American classic.
Developed by settlers from England in the 1600s, the architectural style had a boom in the post-World War II era, when thousands were built to meet the needs of returning soldiers and their families. The house at 1265 Daniels Farm Rd. in Trumbull was custom built in 1944.
But the home’s listing agent, Mark Markelz, said it is a bit unusual for Capes of its day.
Whereas most of the Cape Cods have only two bedrooms on the second floor, this has all four bedrooms upstairs. “That’s not typical of time,” Markelz said.
Even the design of the windows is unconventional, with many of them having an eight-over-12 design — meaning there are eight panels on the top half of the window and 12 on the bottom. Most Capes have eightover-eight its windows.
“Whoever designed this Cape was ahead of their time,” Markelz said.
That’s significant, he said, particularly for a style of house most closely associated with the “Levittown” development, built between 1947 and 1951 on Long Island, N.Y. Considered the first major suburban housing development, Levittown included thousands of nearly identical Cape Cod homes.
But the 2,489-squarefoot Cape Cod on Daniels Farm Road, listed at $439,000, is far from cookie cutter. In addition to the bedroom configuration, there’s also a first-floor laundry room, which was not typical. The laundry chute and built-in ironing board included in that room are also unusual for the era, Markelz said.
The house also sits on 2.68 acres of property, where most homes in the neighborhood sit on only one.
There’s a bevy of open space, and Markelz said the son of the current owner — who has had the house 50 years and is only its second owner — used to bring all the kids in the neighborhood over to play, as his house had the most space.
Though the two-bathroom home has undergone some improvements, it maintains most of its original features, including the hardwood floors, the original green tiles on the walls of the upstairs bathroom, and a decorative wooden staircase bannister.
One particularly charming original feature is a hollowed-out space in a wall near the front of the house, which Markelz said likely was where homeowners kept their phone (probably a rotary phone, he added). In the age of ubiquitous smartphones, he said, the little cubby could be a showcase for knickknacks, a vase or other small items.
Its other amenities include a heated sunroom that looks out over the spacious property, and lots of storage.
“This is definitely a good home for someone who isn’t looking for a typical, plain old Cape Cod,” Markelz said.
Do you know of a house or apartment building with an interesting story? Contact acuda@ctpost.com, and the home could be featured in an upcoming installment of Habitat.