Post and Beam Cape

Looking for information about a post and beam cape?

Post and Beam construction has been in use in America since colonial times and many people associate this building style with the traditional houses of Cape Cod.

This has led to some people referring to this building style as post and beam cape.

Post and beam construction typically features high roof lines and ceilings, many post and beam houses use the bowed roof design of Cape Cod or cape houses.

Post and beam houses can be either single story or multi story allowing the use of the cape style roof line to be a high raised ceiling or a second story.

Post and beam construction is a traditional construction method in which the timbers are joined by mortise and tenon joints and then fastened with hardwood pegs rather than the nails or other modern fasteners that we are more familiar with today.

This construction style is very beautiful and the beams are traditionally left exposed in the ceiling allowing this intricate carpentry work to be displayed and enjoyed as an artistic feature of the home.

Post and beam cape can also be used to describe the traditional barns that have been built in the Cape Cod area since colonial times.

As previously mentioned, this construction style is a very old method and was used by the pioneers as one of their primary construction methods.

It is much stronger than any other wooden construction method and allows a larger span and thus a larger open floor space than other construction methods.

This large open floor was ideal for barns.

(It should also be noted that nails were both expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain in colonial times and so the hardwood pegs and strong joints used in this construction method were also ideal for the pioneers.

Modern post and beam cape constructions include both the barn designs used as inspiration for buildings from garden sheds to garages as well as Cape Cod style homes designed and built using modern post and beam construction methods.

The post and beam cape construction style is enjoying a resurgence as people both appreciate the beauty and functionality of the construction and the craftsmanship of the structures.