Dutch Gable Roof (Gablet Roof)

In roof-form terminology, a Dutch gable roof (also called a gablet roof) is a hybrid in which the lower part of the roof is hipped on all sides and the upper part at each end rises into a small vertical gable, the gablet. It is the reverse of a half-hipped (jerkinhead) roof, where the gable is below and the small hip is at the top.

Two meanings

The term is used in two distinct ways, and context matters:

• Roof form (common in North America and Australia): the hip-plus-gablet roof described above.
• Shaped gable (British and European usage): a gable wall whose top is formed into a parapet of curves, sometimes with a pediment, that hides the diagonal roof lines behind it. Shaped "Dutch gables" are associated with the Netherlands, Belgium and, through trade and immigration, eastern England (notably Norfolk and Suffolk) and the Cape Dutch architecture of South Africa. A related form is the crow-stepped gable, with a stepped parapet.

Advantages of the gablet roof

• Combines the all-round eaves and wind resistance of a hip roof with extra roof-space volume and the chance to place a window or vent in the gablet.
• The gablet is a natural location for attic ventilation.

Construction

Framing requires both hip and gable details: hip rafters or hip trusses on the lower slopes, a short ridge, and small gable walls set back from the eaves line. Flashing is needed where the gablet face meets the hip slopes below.

Regional notes

Gablet roofs are common on suburban houses in Australia and parts of the US. The same basic form, much elaborated with curved ridges and deep eaves, underlies the East Asian hip-and-gable roof (Japanese irimoya, Chinese xieshan, Korean paljak).