Mark Hutker of Falmouth is a nationally recognized architect and the author of “Heirlooms to Live In,” an essential guide to Cape Cod architecture and design. Hutker’s favorite homes are modest, charming, and simple. They are also what he describes as “background buildings” that are easy to miss when you are driving by at 45 miles per hour.
These houses are better viewed from a bicycle seat. When he is not drawing up plans for houses, Hutker is an avid cyclist. He enjoys the exercise and the chance to “really see things instead of just glance at them.” It’s what he describes as “one of the unexpected joys of biking for an architect.”
A few weeks ago I asked Hutker if he would be interested in sharing that joy and taking me on what I dubbed a “buildings and bikes” tour. Hutker was all in, which was why I was lucky enough to join him; his wife, Carla; and their 21-year-old daughter, Harly, for a Saturday morning ride through West Falmouth. It’s a relaxing sightseeing trip worth every minute, especially if you are curious about the evolution and landscape of the Cape.
Our first stop was at 302 West Falmouth Highway to look at a two-story stone house that overlooks Buzzards Bay and the Sippewissett Marsh. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this home is the 12-foot-high Ionic column that sits in the front yard, adjacent to a curtain of bamboo. The sand-colored column is not just tall, it’s heavy and thick as a hundred-year-old tree trunk. It would look more in place at an archeological dig than on the Cape. “It was probably an architectural relic that someone found and installed her,” Hutker said. “I use it for inspiration from the gods of architecture as I ride up the hill on my weekly club ride.”
The two-story stone house behind the column sits back from the road, protected by the column and a tall hedge. Hutker described the house as a “simple structure made of West Falmouth pink granite. Most of that stone was exported, but a few homes in town were made from this material.”
We tried, but were unable to make sense of this curious yet pleasing juxtaposition: a classical but oddly proportioned column adjacent to a Yankee farmhouse. Instead, we continued north along West Falmouth Highway. In the next mile we passed at least a dozen homes that easily qualified as lovely background buildings.
We stopped in front of 392 West Falmouth Highway at what Hutker called the century house. It looks like a one-room cottage when you stand directly in front of it, but its rooms extend back and then flare out to the left. It wasn’t unusual for early residents of the Cape to add onto their homes as their families grew and they became more prosperous. The house we were looking at, Hutker said, “has at least one addition that was put onto it for each century. Friends of ours live there and when you walk through their house, it’s like you are walking through history.”
The century house is clad in shingles, which Hutker described as part of the Cape Cod story. “These homes were built with local materials, almost exclusively white cedar shingles. They were durable and simple. They were done once and done right.”
Our last stop on the tour was at Bourne Farm, which was built in 1775 and sits at the intersection of West Falmouth Highway and Thomas Landers Road. The main structure is a three-quarters colonial farmhouse, with a pair of symmetrical windows on the right and one set of windows on the left. The window panes are “the size of a human face,” Hutker explained. “It gives the house a sense of height and proportion. And the genius of the double-hung windows means that in the summer you get cool air coming in from the bottom and hot air coming out of the top.”
Hutker pointed out that the windows are completely connected to the eave, which creates “an integrated and harmonious line. The sill and side casings were fashioned from deep planks instead of thin boards. It creates a double shadow on the wall. You don’t get that with a thin plank. It’s the subtle things that make authentic houses authentic.”
What draws Hutker to each of these homes is that they are all “well proportioned and true to themselves. They were built with what was at hand and are balanced with the environment. They are not trying to say anything to the outside world. They just look like home.”
Hutker has advice for anyone visiting Cape Cod who is interested in fashioning their own bikes-and-buildings tour: “Every one of our communities on the Cape and the Islands has a historical district with charming, mature trees that provide shade from the summer sun and smaller, narrower roads that are safe to pedal,” he said. “I’d recommend that you find one of these districts and mosey around.”
Cape Cod was made for moseying. “On your bike,” Hutker said, “you can slow down and see what a beautiful place this is to live.” Or to visit. And most definitely to ride.
Jonathan Simmons can be reached at JonathanSimmons@me.com.