Gable Roof Home Styles

Cape Cod Style Homes

• A Cape Cod style home has a steep pitched gable that can accommodate a second floor. The simplest of cape homes usually has a rectangular footprint and a single gable for the roof, although they can also display more complicated footprints and additional gables. The simple shape of this style of home makes it affordable to build. According to Antique Home, cape style homes were common to build during the depression because families could live on the first floor of the house and finish off the second floor when more money became available.

Colonial Style Homes

• With a less steep roof pitch than the cape house, the colonial style home has a full second floor that is made up of straight walls. The gabled roof on a colonial home sits atop the second floor, which can have full windows on all four sides. The simplest of colonial style homes has a symmetrical facade, rectangular footprint, two floors and a single gable roof. Like the cape cod, it can also be built in more complex styles with front porches and additional gables.

Victorian Style Homes

• Take a simple colonial house and turn it 90 degrees so that the triangle of the roof gable becomes the front of the home, and you have a simple folk Victorian house. While Victorian homes can come in many elaborate configurations with different roof styles and round turrets, the folk Victorian house has a single gabled roof that extends slightly past the front of the home and a front porch. Many times the front porch and eaves are adorned with elaborate wooden scroll work or decorative brackets.