Can someone educate me about this unusual roof?

[dr0591]

I snapped this picture of an interesting house I saw while out for a walk the other evening. The roof looks really unusual to me -- like it has multiple layers or something. If you look closely, you can see that it has maybe three distinct layers in some places (I don't think it's just a beveled shadow board). And some of the corners seem like they're trimmed off at a slant, and angle up a degree or two.

I've never seen anything quite like this before. Is this a specific roof style that I'm unfamiliar with, or just a really unusual custom roof? Is there a practical reason for building a roof this way? How would you go about modeling this in Chief?

Always trying to expand my knowledge about houses! :-)

Here's a link to the full-size photo if you want to download it for closer inspection: http://castleview3d.com/img/house-on...f-course-2.jpg

[carpenterguy]

Wow, that is one major fine looking house.

Green and Green maybe, gotta be in a book somewhere.

Thank you for sharing that.

Have never seen a roof like that before. It is obviously supposed to be that way but I wonder what the practical aspect is for it?

Andy.

[NYarchitect]

Where was it located? The only reason I can think is for multiple levels that were wacky and not lined up with each other. Depending on location, it could also be for drainage of rainfall/ melted snow. Very cool looking though.

[johnnyprc]

To me it looks like they did something like this with the rafter....and then on the barge detail layered it which is making the roof look layered throughout.

Not a bad detail actually. I've normally done exposed rafter tails differently where I end up notching a section out for the gutter (wood gutter typ) - but I like that look and method. I bit heavy for the typical home I work on, but I think that detail could be scaled down a bit. Its a "heavy" version of the exposed rafter tail.

[johnnyprc]

The only real thing that house has wrong is the color of the fascia/tails/barge. Light pink? - looks like that color the window frame that too... They are obviously trying to pick up some color out of the stonework, but that is a bad idea.

I guess I would add that they replaced the roof with a very cheap roof that doesn't fit that home (should be slate). If the color was different, and the roof had more relief (or was copper)....that is what I would change. But yes, very nice home.

[amddrafting]

My assumption would be the original architect was influenced by a trip to Japan or China. In fact the whole house has a bit of asian flair to it. The girth of the roof (multiple layers) is probably there to imitate the larger roof profiles of asian roofs. The rafter tails would be an exaggeration of the open roof rafters in asian roofs and it is pretty typical of craftsman (arts & crafts) style to have ornate and over the top rafter tails such as these. The flair at the corners is definitely asian. I would venture to guess that the original roof was clay tiles that had been replaced by composite shingles. One other asian aspect is the stacked appearance over the main portion of the roof.

The color is actually perfect for an arts and crafts period home.

Arts and Crafts colors are a harmonious palette taken from nature. Earthtones including Ochre, Madder red, Hunter and Olive greens and blue, gray, and beige shades of Stone predominate. They are dusty, muted, and soft tones that generally avoid pastels and primary colors. Please note that because computer monitors do not accurately and consistently depict color so the photo should be considered an approximation.


If you ask me it's perfectly executed arts and crafts style american home.

[johnnyprc]

If you ask me it's perfectly executed arts and crafts style american home.

But you just got done saying it was massively influenced by Japanese or Chinese (prior century) architecture?

If I HAD to live with the pink trim I would have made the body a different color. The mix of what they have, in my opinion, is awful - the architecture is great. I realize that is a highly subjective opinion and nothing more. I can't say I liked everything that Frank Lloyd Wright did either. I guess that makes me sacrilegious.

Cheers! All in good fun...

[amddrafting]

But you just got done saying it was massively influenced by Japanese or Chinese (prior century) architecture?.

All early american architecture is influenced by other cultural architecture. It's not fully asian, just influenced, but in it main features it is completely arts and crafts style.

To each their own on the color choices. I personally love this scheme. I would offer that this picture really doesn't capture the "pink" as you call it to it's true shade. It probably looks more like color just above the bottom right corner (on the color grid I posted) in person. Or 3 boxes over to the left from that one, just slightly lighter.

[dr0591]

No no no -- the trim's not pink!!! It's all natural wood -- roof trim, windows, doors, everything -- with sage green wall shakes. The photo was taken at sunset, making everything look reddish-pink. I should go back and take another shot of it during the day.

The house is situated overlooking a country club golf course in a suburb of Rochester, New York. Our area is/was a hotbed of Arts & Crafts style (Stickley? Frederick Law Olmsted? we even have a Frank Lloyd Wright house in town). So yes, the style of the house itself is very familiar around here (although this is definitely a high-end version). But that roof is like A&C style on steroids, with a Japanese twist. I agree that slate or tiles would be a better match than comp shingles, and maybe it used to have them. I don't know the age of this place. The country club it's next to was founded in 1895, and the original clubhouse was designed by Claude Bragdon. Maybe one of those dudes designed this place, too?

Here's an aerial view of the house from Google maps:

[joey3032]

It's either a Green and Green or someone that was heavily influenced by them....

http://www.gamblehouse.org/

[joey3032]

As for the roof detail. Perhaps it's a way to handle the heavy wet upstate New York snow loads and still be able to have the smaller arts & crafts style rafter tails. The rafters would need to be substantial...imo...to handle the snow, but 11 1/4" rafter tails don't look the best. This is a way to have both, but I have seen and done the detail the other way. Cut the rafter from the bottom after the wall.

[David J. Potter]

I think your original question was something like "how would you do this?" and the answer is manually after auto-generation, then manual placing of multiple fascias and rafters and or perhaps molding poly-lines.
It is a fine looking structure but well within the existing capabilities of X5.

DJP

[fcwilt]

My first thought was that parts of the roof were warped. Perhaps they were going for an Oriental flavor but I don't think it works as executed.

[jcaffee]

I'm a bit befuddled by the flair at the gable ends. It's more apparent on the enlarged photo from Kathleen's website.

jon

[dr0591]

We don't get that much snow here that the weight of it would be a serious problem for most roofs. But I wonder if the roof flares are an attempt to deal with ice dams? Although with deep overhangs like those, that shouldn't really be a problem either.

I took this photo with the idea of modeling this interesting and challenging house, to "sharpen the saw" and keep developing my skills in new areas. I may still give it a try, but my final product probably won't have those roof flares! I can't imagine there would be much call for those anyhow, eh?

Thanks for all the interesting speculations. :-)