Roofing Styles in the 1970s

Spanish-Style Roof

• In the 1970s, the Spanish-style roof, made of red tiles and usually used on stucco or painted brick homes, began to be more common. This style persisted through the 1980s and was typically accompanied by desert-like plants in the front and back yards and arched windows in the home, according to house planning website DAOnline.net.

Cross-Hipped Roof

• Ranch-style homes were mostly popular in the 1960s, but the style also carried over into the 1970s. Ranch-style homes were typically built with cross-hipped roofs, which are a variation of standard hip roofs. Remodeling website CalFinder.com says that cross-hipped roofs are "more complicated" than other types of roofs to create and thus "require extra materials to construct," which makes them "more expensive than other basic types of roofing."

Shed Roof

• A trendy home style among architects of the 1970s was the "shed house plan," according to website DreamHomeSource.com. The shed house plan was typically characterized by long half-gable roofs that would often slope at extreme angles up different areas of the house. Shed roofs came in a variety of materials but were often constructed using shingles made of metal, wood or asphalt, according to architect Bruce Wentworth.

Gable Roof

• The gable roof, introduced in 1850, was used in many homes of the 1970s. According to Merriam-Webster, a gable roof is a "double-sloping roof" that forms a "triangular end of a building from cornice or eaves to ridge." Windows were typically featured in the gables created by the gable roof. DAOnline states that gable roofs of the 1970s were similar to hipped roofs, although gable roofs created more dramatic gables at the front.