Why Walpole
What Shutters Do For A Walpole Cape From The Street
Walpole grew in waves. The capes and small colonials went up from the fifties on along Routes 1 and 1A and the streets off Walpole center, East Walpole and South Walpole filled in around them, and the larger newer houses went in toward the southern end of town. What most of them share is a front elevation with a row of symmetrical windows and not a lot else to look at.
That is why shutters earn their keep here. From the sidewalk, a run of white panels with the louvers set at the same angle looks intentional in a way that mismatched shades never will. Once you are inside, tilting the louvers keeps the street from seeing in without giving up the daylight. On a cape the front bedroom windows sit low and close to the road, and that privacy is the reason a lot of people call us in the first place.
Inside the house the subject turns to moisture. Capes of that era have small bathrooms with a window in the shower wall and a kitchen window over the sink. Those get composite, which does not care about steam, and the front rooms get hardwood, which is lighter and takes stain. Both paint the same white, so the house matches front to back. The shutters page goes into the materials in more detail.
Walpole sells well and turns over regularly, with Bird Park and the Adams Farm trails as part of the pitch. Shutters convey with the house, they photograph well in the listing, and the next owner does not need to spend on window treatments. If you are weighing them against shades, we quote both, because shutters do run about two to three times more per window and you should see both numbers side by side.
