Roof Styles and Housing Characteristics

   

Gable Roof - triangular section of a wall formed by the end of a pointed roof  

Gambrel Roof- A roof with two slopes on each side, the lower slope having the steeper pitch

Hipped Roof- A roof with slopes on all four sides. The "hips" are the lines formed when the slopes meet at the corners. 

Saltbox Roof- variation of the gable roof, originally created when a low lean-to addition was built onto the back wall of a house

Mansard Roof- All four sides of this roof have two slopes, the lower four steeper than the upper four

Shed Roof-A simple, one-slope roof; also called a lean-to roof

Bay Window- A set of two or more windows that protrude out from the wall to provide more light and wider views.

Casement Window- A window that opens by swinging inward or outward much like a door. They are usually vertical in shape but are often grouped in bands

Clapboard- Long, narrow boards overlapped to cover the outer walls. 

Dormer- The setting for a vertical window in the roof.

Eaves- That portion of the roof that projects beyond the wall

Fanlight- Semicircular or arched window above a door

Palladian window- Three part window featuring a large arched center and flanking rectangular sidelights

Pediment- Triangular crown used over doors, windows, or porches

Portico- Large porch usually with a pediment roof supported by classical columns or pillars

Rafter- Roof beam sloping from ridge to the wall

Sidelights-Windows on either side of the door

Turret -Small tower, often at a corner of a building