Gablet roof

A gablet roof or Dutch gable roof

A gablet roof (in Britain) or Dutch gable (North America and Australasia) is a roof with a small gable at the top of a hip roof. The term Dutch gable is also used to mean a gable with parapets. Some sources refer to this as a gable-on-hip roof.^[1]

A gablet roof combines the benefits of both the gable and the hip roof while adding additional architectural interest. A drawback of a hip framed roof is its reduced attic space for a given roof pitch compared to a simple gable roof. In Mediterranean climates with lower snow loads high roof pitches and their greater consumption of materials and labor are unnecessary. Simple gable roofs are also problematic, as the lower low eaves made possible by a shallow pitched hip roof provide the opportunity for both shade and rain protection in the form of an overhang or latticed porch. The shade these create keeps a structure cooler, their covered space is an attractive place for relaxation and escape from heat trapped inside, and the rain "shadow" created by overhangs greatly reduces the moisture content of the soil. This inhibits both foundation decay and subterranean termites common in these areas.

See also

• Half-hip or Dutch hip roof, which also combines elements of the hip and gable, but with the gable below the hip.
• East Asian hip-and-gable roof

References

1. Virginia Savage McAlester (2013). A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, xvii.