Designers and builders, who are generally
more accustomed to building
gable roofs, may have trouble detailing
the eaves of hip roofs on new
houses. One way to get on the right
track is to examine past styles that
used hip roofs successfully, and note
the proportions and trim system necessary
for achieving each effect.
Folk Houses —
A Pyramidal Roof
Unsophisticated, low-cost dwellings
such as farmhouses, log cabins, and early
Colonial houses almost always have
gable roofs. One exception is the Southern
pyramidal-roofed house, where the
roof is a simple unadorned prism with
almost no overhang. A successful contemporary
variation is Charles Moore's
1961 house in Orinda, California (see
Figure 1). He cured the obvious problem
of a pyramidal roof —