The Cape Cod house might be the most recognizable home in America. The first ones were built in the 1600s by Puritan settlers, shaped by what the land offered and what the winters demanded — cedar shingles cut from nearby trees, a steep roof so snow would slide off, a central chimney warming every room from a single fire. When families needed more space, they added on to the back and pulled the roofline down. That long, sloping rear silhouette reminded people of the wooden salt boxes on colonial kitchen shelves. Eventually, the name stuck.