Multiunit courtyard housing fits the historic context
Sea Captains Row is a missing middle rental development on 1.6 acres in the historic district of Hyannis, Massachusetts. Pleasant Street was “once home to early sea captains and a vital link between the train station and Hyannis Harbor,” explains Union Studio, which won a missing middle Design Excellence Award from the Urban Guild.
Sea Captains Row provides 44 living spaces in a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, including two fully accessible ADA units. Modular construction was employed, with floor plans optimized for easy transportation of the units across the bridges connecting Cape Cod to the mainland.
The project by CapeBuilt Development comprises five small multifamily buildings that look like townhouses. Courtyard housing is used creatively. Cottage courts have been employed in New Urbanism for several decades, emulating an early 20th Century housing type. Developers have recently used a more varied mix of multiplexes and townhouses to achieve greater density.
Sea Captains Row has a density of 28 units per acre on a small site and offers an attractive central semipublic courtyard for socializing. You can see the groups of Adirondack chairs in the photos.
Parking is provided in two small rear lots, mostly invisible from the street. The streetscape reads as typical two-and-a-half-story housing found in many coastal New England towns and cities. “The project's design pays homage to the historic context, drawing inspiration from surrounding residential architecture and the legacy of sea captain homes,” Union Studio explains. “Utilizing regional materials like natural cedar shingles and painted clapboards, Sea Captains Row seamlessly integrates with its historic surroundings.”
The development is just a few blocks from the Hyannis Transportation Center, with access to the CapeFLYER passenger train to Boston’s South Station, the Plymouth/Brockton and Peter Pan bus lines, and the trains and buses of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.
Union Studio notes: “This new housing supports a growing community on Cape Cod who want to live near their places of employment and within walking distance of commercial and recreational amenities. Sponsored by the Cape Cod Young Professionals organization, the project included gathering direct feedback from the community.”
Disclosure: I was on the 2024 Urban Guild Awards jury, along with Sara Bega of Bega Design Studio, Rock Bell, East Beach Development, and Andrew Von Maur, a design consultant and professor at Andrews University.
