Jerkinhead Roof History

The jerkinhead roof goes by many different names including jerkinhead jerkin head half hipped clipped gable and english hipped roofs.

Jerkinhead roof history. A jerkinhead gable porch with faux half timbering really makes this bungalow stand out. A hip roof hip roof or hipped roof is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls usually with a fairly gentle slope although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak. This house in the 1700 block of south delaware has three jerkinheads. Jerkinhead roofs are sometimes found on american bungalows and cottages small american houses from the 1920s and 1930s and assorted victorian house styles.

A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Thus a hipped roof house has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. Though this word has uncertain origins the oed explains that it could have been a variation of kirkin head in which we find kirk an old scots variation of the word church. The roofing style was later promoted by herbert maier and was used in state park structures.

The effect is a roof line that folds or leans back into the ridge. The jerkinhead gable starts showing up as far as i know in the late 19th century in america and was quite popular during the revival styles of the early 20th century. The end of a roof that is hipped sloped for only part of its height leaving a truncated gable. Perhaps sloped gables first appeared on the heads or roofs of churches but there seems to be no clear evidence of this.

The origin of the design dates to medieval times but was revived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when old world. These names all attempt to describe the roof as a. The jerkinhead gable roof design was commonly used in the mid 1920s by gilbert stanley underwood a park lodge designer for the utah parks company. A jerkinhead roof may also be called a jerkin head roof a half hipped roof a clipped gable or even a jerkinhead gable.

Jerkinhead definition is a hipped part of a roof which is hipped only for a part of its height leaving a truncated gable. There are many examples of the jerkinhead roof style that persists today. A jerkinhead is a truncated gable at the end of a roof.