Examples of Pergolas

Attached Pergola

• Attached pergolas are connected to the side of buildings, usually houses, and receive part of their structural support from the building. As a result, the backside of attached pergolas lack rear columns that are on freestanding pergolas. These pergolas are usually built as an addition to houses and cover patio areas. Some homeowners build attached pergolas over their driveways and park their cars underneath the pergola. Attached pergolas are also built over front or back doorways to give a more appealing feel to the building's entrance.

Two-Column Pergola

• As its name implies, two-column pergolas only have two columns supporting the structure. Landscape architects usually build two-column pergolas for gardens that do not have a large amount of space. These pergolas are commonly used as entrances into a garden. The number of columns is the primary difference between two-column pergolas and other pergolas since gardeners still dress two-column varieties with vines and other floral arrangements. However, two-column pergolas obviously do not provide the amount of shade or shelter that other forms of pergolas do.

Torii-Style

• Torri-style pergolas are patterned after Japanese torii, a traditional Japanese gate that is usually found in religious shrines. These type of pergolas have two lintel beams, one built less than a foot over the other. Also, torii-style pergola columns pass through the lower lintel beam into the upper lintel beam. Although modern landscape architects and homeowners are not bound to do this, traditional Japanese torii structures were made from wood or stone. Also, torii-style pergolas have curved beams as opposed to classical pergolas.

Hexagonal Pergolas

• Hexagonal pergolas are structures with six columns for support and are built in the shape of a hexagon. These pergolas are useful for covering round-shaped patio areas. Most of these types of pergolas are freestanding structures, although some architects make attached hexagonal pergolas. However, attached hexagonal pergolas are actually half-hexagonal structures. Similar to square or rectangular pergolas, hexagonal pergolas are able to support flat, gazebo-style and curved roofs.

Raised Deck Pergolas

• Some homeowners build a pergola on their raised decks. These type of pergolas are usually attached to the house because of the building's proximity. Most raised deck pergolas are square- or rectangular-shaped, unless the raised deck has a circular or hexagonal design.