Description of a Dutch Hip Roof

Hip Roof

• A hip roof consists of four panels or sides, with each side meeting at the top. The roof typically consists of two longer sides and two shorter sides when found on rectangular houses, or houses with a rectangular plan. If you were to look at the roof from above, then you would see one long line down the center of the house, with two shorter lines coming off each end. A pyramidal hip roof is rarer and is found only on homes with a square plan. With a pyramidal hip roof, all four sides of the roof are exactly the same shape and size, and meet at a point.

Dutch Hip Roof

• The Dutch hip roof takes the idea of a hip roof and adds a gable. The four side panels of the roof still slope down, but only the two longer sides meet at the top of the house. The two shorter sides stop halfway up the roof and the slope stops. Instead of sloping up at an angle, this area of the roof is perfectly perpendicular. The Dutch hip roof combines a gable roof, which has two pieces sloping down with the hip roof.

Advantages

• The Dutch hip roof reduces the disadvantages found with both a gable roof and a hip roof. A gable roof often has low overhangs, which makes the house look darker inside because it blocks the sun. The size and shape of a hip roof reduce the overall square footage of the home and cuts back on attic space. A Dutch hip roof brings more attic space and square footage to the house, while also allowing for more natural light.

Trivia

• The roof is known only as a Dutch hip roof in North America and Australia. In Great Britain, the roof is called a gablet.

  It is possible for a home to have two different types of roofs, due to the addition of a porch onto the house. You may have a Dutch hip roof on the main house and a simple hip roof on the porch, or vice-versa.