Although the gambrel roof is popular for certain house styles, most notably Dutch Colonials native to the Hudson River Valley, perhaps it is most familiar capping the barns that dot rural countrysides.

It has a straight ridge like that on a gable roof, but midway down the slope, the planes break downward at a steeper pitch. A gambrel roof is so named because its curved, hip-like shape resembles the contour of a horse’s hind leg, called a hock or gambrel in 17th-century England.

This type of roof utilizes two shorter rafters in place of each single rafter that spans a typical gable roof. This is an advantage where quality rafter material is scarce, but gambrel roofs are slightly more complicated to frame. Their greatest advantage is that they allow maximum living space in the attic or upper-floor level.

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