Published October 12, 2026
Nobody publishes a count of Cape Cods by neighborhood, and listing data does not reliably tag a house by style. So this guide uses a different kind of evidence: Virginia state historic-district nomination forms, which name real streets, addresses and build years. Everything below about a house or a block comes from a form we opened and read in October 2026. We make no price claims, and we say where each area is the wrong fit. The order runs from the West End toward the east side of the metro. It is geographic, not a ranking.
This guide fills a gap between our other style roundups. For the 1900s to 1920s, see bungalows and Tudors. For the 1950s and 1960s, see mid-century ranches and split-levels. For districts known for age and character, see our historic neighborhoods guide. Here the focus is the compact houses of roughly 1935 to 1953.
What counts as a Cape Cod, and where cottage comes in
The Forest Hill Historic District nomination describes a Cape Cod as a compact derivative of the Colonial Revival style: typically a story and a half, three bays wide, with brick or weatherboard walls and a steep side-gable roof. It dates most of the district’s examples to 1935 through 1950. “Cottage” is looser. In the same nomination, the term generally describes a compact one-story house in the Minimal Traditional style, which was common nationally from 1930 to 1950.
That matters for searching. A listing that says “cottage” may be a Cape Cod, a Minimal Traditional house, or an older Arts and Crafts cottage, and all three show up in the areas below.
Three Chopt Road in Westhampton: a few Cape Cods among older cottages
The Three Chopt Road Historic District nomination covers a 1.3-mile stretch of Three Chopt Road, from the fork at Cary Street Road to just south of Bandy Road, in Westhampton. The form places it near the University of Richmond, the Country Club of Virginia and Bandy Field Nature Park.
Cape Cods are present but few. It lists three, all on the east side of the road north of the property known as Huntley (Green’s Farm): 6508 (1950), 6514 (1950, one and a half stories) and 6512 (1953). Older cottage-style houses give the road more of its character, including a 1912 Arts and Crafts-inspired cottage at 5904, a 1917 cottage design at 6106 and a 1948 “Cotswold Cottage” at 6419.
Wrong for you if you want a block of matching Cape Cods. This is a road corridor with churches and a mix of older houses, not a Cape Cod subdivision. The district covers 65 acres.
Carillon: whole blocks of Cape Cods beside William Byrd Park
Carillon is the clearest case in the Richmond area. The Carillon Neighborhood Historic District nomination says rows of Cape Cod houses line the 3000 and 3100 blocks of French, Grant and Condie streets, and that between 1940 and 1950 about 250 houses were built, which is more than half of the homes standing today. It calls the story-and-a-half Minimal Traditional and Cape Cod house the most popular form of that period.
The district covers about 148 acres. William Byrd Park forms its east edge, Powhite Parkway its west and northwest edge, the Downtown Expressway its north edge, and the James River and Kanawha Canal its south edge. The nomination compares some of its row houses to those in The Fan, and it places Rothesay and Windsor Farms across Powhite Parkway to the west. It also lists older cottages, such as a frame cottage from about 1910 at 1410 Pump House Road and one from 1922 at 1521 Sunset Lane.
Wrong for you if you want one uniform look. The form lists Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman, Ranch and Split-Level houses side by side, with a period of significance running from 1889 to 1977. We do not have a Carillon community page yet, so start from the City of Richmond hub.
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Forest Hill: story-and-a-half Cape Cods mixed in with larger homes
The Forest Hill Historic District nomination says the smaller houses in the district are often one-and-a-half-story Cape Cods mixed among older, larger homes. It names examples at 4004 Dunston Avenue, 823 West 47th Street, 4614 Archer Avenue and 1107 West 42nd and 43rd streets, and notes that the house at 1107 West 43rd Street has enlarged one-story wings. For the cottage side, it points to a row of thirteen Minimal Traditional houses on the west side of the 800 block of West 46th Street.
The district is roughly bounded by Riverside Drive on the north and by Forest Hill Park and Reedy Creek on the east, and its period of significance runs from 1895 to 1961. Our Forest Hill community page has the current listings and the neighborhood overview.
Wrong for you if you want every house to be small. The Cape Cods share the district with much larger and older houses.
Springhill: four matching 1947 Cape Cods on West 22nd Street
Springhill, also called Bellevue in its nomination, lies south of the James River. The Springhill Historic District nomination describes four Cape Cods at 507, 509, 511 and 513 West 22nd Street, all built from the same plan in 1947. Each has a steep side-gable roof, an interior brick chimney and six-over-six windows, and the siding is now vinyl over the original weatherboard. The form links the design to postwar interest in colonial restoration inspired by Colonial Williamsburg.
Riverside Drive, built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, runs along the district’s north edge. The form calls Westover Hills a sister suburb, and it describes Forest Hill as an adjacent neighborhood. Springhill has no community page of its own, so those two are the closest pages we have.
Wrong for you if you want many Cape Cods to compare. The form describes four, within a district of 79 contributing resources.
Highland Springs: modest cottage-scale houses, but not a Cape Cod district
We include Highland Springs to show where a search for small older houses leads beyond the city. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources page on the Highland Springs district says the community began in 1890 as an electric streetcar suburb in eastern Henrico County, with styles from the 1890s to the 1960s. It describes one-story and one-and-a-half-story houses on small lots, and says Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses are numerous. The page does not mention Cape Cods, so we do not claim them here.
Wrong for you if a Colonial Revival Cape Cod is the goal. Highland Springs fits better if you are open to Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses of similar scale. It is part of the larger Henrico County market.
How to shop for one
Use the style words above as search terms, then verify on the house itself. Check the year built, the number of stories, whether the upstairs rooms are finished, and whether additions like the enlarged wings noted in Forest Hill were permitted. Walk the block, because in these districts a Cape Cod often sits next to a very different house.
If you are early in the process, our buyer services page explains how we work with buyers, and our preferred lenders can walk you through financing before you tour. You can browse everything currently on the market through our property search.
Frequently asked questions
Are Cape Cod houses always a story and a half?
No. The Forest Hill nomination describes the typical Cape Cod as a story and a half, but the four matching 1947 houses on West 22nd Street in Springhill are described as one story, and the Three Chopt Road nomination lists both one-story and one-and-a-half-story Cape Cods. Check the listing for stories, finished attic space and ceiling height instead of assuming the label tells you.
Why is it called a Cape Cod when the house is in Virginia?
The Forest Hill nomination calls the name a geographic misnomer in Virginia. The style is a compact Colonial Revival form, and the Springhill nomination ties its 1947 houses to postwar interest in colonial restoration inspired by Colonial Williamsburg. The name is a style label, not a location clue.
Does a historic district listing mean every house in it is historic?
No. The nominations separate contributing from non-contributing resources. Carillon counts 499 contributing and 99 non-contributing resources, and Forest Hill counts 1,111 contributing and 316 non-contributing. On Three Chopt Road, the 1953 Cape Cod at 6512 is listed as non-contributing, and its date falls after the 1950 end of that district’s period of significance.
How is a Minimal Traditional house different from a Cape Cod?
Using the Forest Hill nomination’s descriptions, a Cape Cod is usually a story and a half with three bays and a steep side-gable roof. A Minimal Traditional house is usually one story, with a medium-pitched side-gable roof, a shallow front-gabled bay and very little ornament. Both were popular between roughly 1930 and 1950, so listings often blur them.
Do these sources say how many Cape Cods each neighborhood has?
No. The Forest Hill, Carillon and Three Chopt Road nominations each give no total count of Cape Cod or cottage houses. That is why this guide uses named streets and addresses as proxies and does not rank the areas by how many Cape Cods they hold.
Which of these areas are in the city and which are in a county?
Westhampton, Carillon, Forest Hill and Springhill are in the City of Richmond; their nominations list the county as independent city. Highland Springs is in eastern Henrico County. County and city differ on tax bills and services, so confirm the locality for any specific address.
What if I want a different older house style?
Our guide to bungalows, Tudors and other early 20th century homes covers the earlier decades, and our guide to mid-century ranches and split-levels covers the years after the Cape Cod era.
Ready to watch these neighborhoods?
We will build a saved search around the areas named above, so new Cape Cod and cottage-style listings reach you as they come on. Start from our property search and tell us which areas you want.
Written by the Mission Realty Team. Real Broker LLC, 3701 Cox Rd, Richmond, VA 23233, (804) 601-4960. Meet the team.
