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Roof shape types (C) Carson Dunlop Associates Building Architectural Styles Based on Roof Shapes

  • POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about how to identify different types of roof architectural styles as an aid to describing the age and architecture of a building.

Photo & sketch dictionary of roof architectural styles:

How to recognize residential building roof shapes, roof architectural styles, building siding materials, window types and systems, and roof dormer shapes and architectural styles.

We also recognize that not every building fits a perfect textbook name or class, building are mixed, mashed, and sometimes. We describe clues that can help sort out combined style buildings. Page top sketch courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Relation of Roof Form to Architectural Style

One rapid means to tracking down the architectural style of a building is to look at the general building shape, starting with its roof. Using Field Guide to American Houses (see References) as a starting point, adding extensively from our own notes and photographs, we list below common roof forms and the architectural styles most likely to be associated with that roof design.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Roof Form Photo

Roof Form Name

Common Architectural Styles
that use this Roof Form

Arched or Bell Gabled Roof

[Click to enlarge any image]

Very wide gell gabled roof,
Vassar College, NY
(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Bell Gabled Roof  
Justin Morrill Vermont (C) Daniel Friedman

Centered Gable
Steep Pitch

 

Gothic Revival style
(left, Justin Morrill Smith Homestead, VT, 1840)

More about the Justin Morrill Smith home can be seen
at OLD HOUSE MYSTERIES & SOLUTIONS and
at NARROW TALL STAIR CONSTRUCTION and
ta ROOF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES and
at KNOB & TUBE WIRING and
at WINDOW HARDWARE AGE

Vassar College Library (C) Daniel Friedman Centered Gable using perpendicular central element Gothic Revival style architecture
(left, English Perpendicular Gothic style, Vassar College Library, 1905, Poughkeepsie, NY, Allen & Collens Architects)
Rockefeller Hal Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman Centered Gable
Moderate or Varied Slope
Colonial Revival style
Georgian style
(left, Georgian eclectic, Rockefeller Hall, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, includes Tudor/Elizabethan elements, Edward York, Philip Sawyer, architects, 1897)
Adam style
Beaux Arts style
Italian Renaissance (C) Daniel Friedman Centered Gable
Low Pitch
Italianate style
Italian Renaissance
Stick style Cross-Gabled or gable front and wings roof form, steep sloped roof


Tudor style
Queen Anne (1875 - 1900)
Stick style (left, sketch)
Gothic style
Gothic Revival style
Cape Cod (Poughkeepsie NY)

Folk Victorian (C) Daniel Friedman Cross Gabled, moderate or varied pitch roof

Carpenter Gothic (1870 - 1910) (left, Rhinebeck NY)
Shingle style
National Folk style
Early Classical Revival style

(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Cross-Gabled low pitch roof Craftsman style architecture
Spanish Eclectic style
Greek Revival style architecture
Monterey style
Dormer roofs, Oxford UK (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Dormer roofs Photo: Dormer roof windows, Wolvercote, Oxford, U.K.
Arched dormer roofs, Genoa Italy (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Arched Dormer Roofs

Photo: arched dormer roofs in a Mansard, Genoa, Italy

Bell gabled dormers

Eyebrow window types (C) Daniel Friedman Eyebrow Dormer Roof

Photo: eyebrow dormer window

Roof dormers as architectural features are described separately at ROOF DORMER TYPES - Photo Guide

Pratt  House Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman Front Gabled or Tri-Gable, steep pitch

Gothic Revival style (1835 - 1880)
Stick style architecture
Queen Anne style architecture
Tudor (left, uncommon, Pratt House, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY ca 1914, also see
Pratt House, additional view )

(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Front Gabled or Tri-Gabled, moderate or varied pitch National Folk style
Shingle style architecture
Folk Victorian style
Neoclassical style architecture
Colonial Revival (rare)
Cross gabled or tri-gbled roof (C) Daniel Friedman Norway InspectApedia.com Cross-Gabled Roof, moderate pitch

Photo: Cross-gabled or tri-gabled roof, Norway
Simple triangular gable

Greek Revival (1815 - 1840)
Italianate style
Craftsman style

(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Front Gabled or Tri-Gabled, low slope Greek Revival (1815 - 1840)
Italianate style
Craftsman style
Spanish Eclectic (rare)
(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Neck Gabled Roof  
Low slope shed roofs (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Shed roofs, low slope  
Timber frame (C) Daniel Friedman Side Gabled, steep pitch Tudor style architecture
Gothic Revival style
Stick style, triangular gable
Queen Anne style
French Colonial style
Postmidieval English / Timber Frame(Left, Stuttgart Germany, est. 1640)
Adam (Hudson NY, does this belong here?)
(Tudor Revival, Pratt House, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY ca 1914)
Swift Hall Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman Side Gabled, moderate or varied slope

Cape cod (1710 - 1830 to present) (1940's Poughkeepsie NY)
Colonial (1690 - 1760)
Colonial Revival style
Federal (1780 - 1820)
Georgian (early: 1720 - 1760, late: 1760 - 1780)
(left, Swift Hall, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY, York & Sawyer, 1900)
(also see Suffolk Resolves House, Milton MA)
Adam(Hudson NY, does this belong here?)
Early Classical Revival
Folk Victorian, Neoclassical, Shingle, National Folk, Pre-Railroad Folk
Modern Colonial (Poughkeepsie NY)

Craftsman (C) Daniel Friedman Side Gabled, low slope Craftsman (left, Poughkeepsie NY)
Spanish Eclectic
Italianate style (1845 - 1885)
Monterey style
Greek Revival style
Ductch Colonial style
Spanish Colonial style
Adam style, Hudson NY
(Photo wanted - Contact Us) Stepped Gable roof  
Domed Roof, Genoa, Portofino (C) Daniel Friedman Inspectapedia Domed Roof, steep pitch, with surrounding gable and shed roofs. Photo: steep domed roof, Portofino, Genoa
Domed flat sided varying slope roofs, Norway (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Domed roofs, steep slope, arc-sided Photo: Oslo, Norway
Dome Roof (C) Daniel Friedman Domed Roofs, domes with surrounding flat or low sloped roofs on wings, Palladian windows, or
Geodesic domes
Palladian architecture (1650 - 1670, 1750 - 1820) (see Window Types),
Monticello
Virgina (1809)
Geodesic dome (C) Daniel Friedman Domed Roofs, Geodesic Geodesic dome roofed modern geodesic dome structure, Holmes NY
Onion style roof dome (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Buenos Aires Domed Roof, Onion Dome Photo: onion style domed roof, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Russian onion dome roof style: луковичная глава, lúkovichnaya glavá
Flat roof Buenos Aires (C) Daniel Friedman Flat Roofed buildings

Beaux arts style
Italian Renaissance style
Adam style (rare)
town house subtypes
Hispanic Southwest style
Straw-bale homes (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)

International style architecture Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman Flat Roofed, International style International architectural style, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Modernistic style architecture Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman Flat Roofed, Modernistic  Modernistic architectural style, Vassar College, Pougkeepsie, New York, USA
French provinccial roof style with ribbon slate (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com French Provincial roof style French Provincial roof style, sporting ribbon slate, Pougkeepsie, New York, USA
Simple triangular gable facade on the Wooden House at Beginjof, Amsterdam - cited & discussed at InspectApedia.com Gable Facade, Simple Simple triangular gable facade - on the 15th century Wooden House, Begijnhof in Amsterdam
Original source: h msterdamforvisitors.com/the-wooden-house-at-begijnhof
Gambrel Roof kit home (C) Daniel Friedman Gambrel Roof Dutch Colonial style
(left, this is a kit home)
Shingle style architecture
Colonial Revival style architecture
Georgian style architecture
Dutch Colonial (C) Daniel Friedman Gambrel Roof, dormers Dutch Colonial style architecture(1940's Poughkeepsie NY)
Richardsonian Victorian Hipped Roof with Cross Gables

Queen Anne style, Photo: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie New York, USA

Richardsonan Romanesque (left, Romanesque revival, Ely Hall - Alumnae Gymnasium, William M. Tubby, architect, 1889, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY)
Hipped roof, cross gables, Sears Kit House
Hipped roof, cross gables, (Port Jervis NY)

Shingle style

Hipped roof with ridge, varied slope, Molde, Norway (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Hipped roof with ridge, steep slope, varied slope at eaves Photo: Molde, Norway
Hipped roof with ridge, steep slope, Seoul Korea 1967 (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Hipped Roof, with ridge, moderate pitch, varied slope

Photo: Temple/gate Seoul, Korea, ca 1966

French Eclectic style architecture
Chateauesque style architecture
French Colonial style architecture

Hudso Hipped Roof, with ridge, moderate or varied pitch

Colonial Revival style architecture
Georgian style architecture
Adam style
Early Classical Revival
Folk Victorian style architecture
Mission style architecture
Neoclassical style architecture
Varied pitch hip roof, Molde, Norway

Mission Prarie Vassar Campus (C) Daniel Friedman Hipped Roof, with ridge, low pitch Italianate style architecture
Adam style architecture
Greek Revival style architecture
Italian Renaissance style architecture
Spanish Eclectic style architecture
Prarie / Mission, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY
Very low slope hipped roof with ridge, Oxford U.K. (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Hipped roof with ridge, very low slope Photo: Oxford, U.K.
Main Vassar Campus (C) Daniel Friedman Mansard Roof + Dome

Second Empire (left, Main building, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY, James Renwick, 1865)
(Fishkill NY additional example)

Beaux Arts style

Richardsonian Romanesque style

Mansard style (1855 - 1885)

Mansard roof, steep slope (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Mansard roof, varied pitch Photo: red slate mansard roof, Pougkeepsie, New York, USA
Mansard steep slope roof (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Mansard roof, regular pitch, steep slope Photo: regular pitch mansard roof tower Vassar College, Pougkeepsie, New York, USA
Bell-gabled dormer windows.
Pent roof - small shed roof on lower building walls (C) InspectApedia.com Chester PA Courthouse, ca 1724, courtesy of Energy Investors Pent or Visor Roofs

Photo: Chester PA Courthouse, 1724 courtesy of Energy Investors

Georgian style
Colonial Revival style
Mission Style style

Pramid roof, Key West FL (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Pyramid roof Photo: pyramid roof with vent tower, Key West, Florida, U.S. (Hemingway)
Hexagonal pyramid roof, Oxford UK (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com

Pyramid roof, hipped, steep slope, hexagonal

regular slope

Photo: Oxford, U.K.
Pyramid roof, 6-sided, varied, steep slope (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.com Pyramid roof, hexagonal, varied slope, varied face dimensions Photo: Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
Pyramid shaped roof, thatched, La Manzanilla, Mexico (C) Daniel Friedman InspectApedia.com Pyramid Roof (hipped, no ridge), steep pitch

Photo: Thatched pyramid roof, La Manzanilla, Mexico

Chateauesque style architecture
French Eclectic style architecture

Pyramid roof (C) Daniel Friedman Pyramid Roof (hipped, no ridge), moderate or varied pitch National Folk style architecture
Colonial Revival style architecture
Neoclassical style
Folk Victorian style
Mission style
Low sloped pyramid roof, Gazebo (C) InspectApedia.com

Pyramid Roof (hipped, no ridge)

Low slope/pitch

Photo: Mahr gazebo with low sloped pyramid roof

Prarie style
Italianate style
Pyramid style low slope roof (Norway)

Quonset building (C) Daniel Friedman Quonset Roofs  Utilitarian buildings, 1940
Saltbox roof style, Macy-Colby House, built ca 1651 - Wikipedia Amesbury MA USA Salt Box, varied pitch

Photo: Machy-Colby House, Amesbury MA, USA, ca 1651, courtesy of Wikipedia

Saltbox (1700-1770)

Roof dormers as architectural features are described separately at Roof Dormer Types - Photo Guide.

Readers should see ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID for illustrations of building architectural types shown here are provided courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

Readers should see the additional photo and drawing guides to building architectural styles in the links listed at page top or at the MORE READING links at the bottom of this article

see ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID for illustrations of building architectural types, roof shapes, dormers, windows, and other architectural features.

Also see AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE where we illustrate many building styles, materials, and components, as well as individual building component links listed at

the ARTICLE INDEX the bottom of this article .

At FIELD GUIDES TO NORTH AMERICAN HOUSE ARCHITECTURE we list (and you can buy at Amazon) books we have found particularly helpful in identifying architectural style

Details About Roof Shapes, Types, Materials

See the page top sketch of basic roof shapes, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

See our photo-table guide to the Relation of ROOF FORM to Architectural Style above.

For a full list of roofing materials, including roof covering identification photos, (asphalt shingle, cement asbestos shingles, roll roofing, slate roofing, wood shingle roofs, wood shake roofs, etc), & identification photos as well as roof inspection, diagnosis, repair,

see ROOFING DIAGNOSIS INSPECTION & REPAIR


...

Continue reading at CHIMNEY ARCHITECTURAL STYLES - Photo Guide or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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ROOF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


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