Greenhouse Styles

Gothic

• If you have a Victorian-style home or just want to infuse some Victorian style into your landscape, a gothic-style greenhouse is for you. This greenhouse reflects the gothic revival architecture popular in the mid- to late 1800s. It sports at least one steeply pitched gable and, in vintage buildings, often has intricate scroll work on the door with gingerbread trim above. Gothic-style greenhouses are most often stand-alone structures.

Barn

• Barn-style greenhouses have gambrel roofs, which have two angles -- shallow at the top and steeper down toward the top of the wall -- giving them that familiar shape. This type of greenhouse can be attached to an existing structure or can be freestanding.

Dome

• Dome style greenhouses are not, as their name suggests, smooth. They are constructed of triangular glass panels making them shaped like a hexagon. Dome-shaped greenhouses are glass all the way around and are stand-alone structures. Because of their shape, domed greenhouses expose plants to the sun all day long. The downside of dome-style greenhouses is that, because of their shape, they are more difficult to construct than some other types. Large dome-style greenhouses are also called solariums.

A-Frame

• A-frame greenhouses sport a sharply pitched roof that extends to the ground forming the shape of the letter A. The biggest drawback of this type of greenhouse is that you lose interior space along the sides, where it is difficult to stand up or find adequate space for your plants.

Gable

• Gable-style greenhouses have straight-up walls and pitched roofs that provide ample headroom, giving you lots of interior square footage. This type of greenhouse is popular in colder climates because its pitched roof is generally steep enough to shed snow and ice. A gable greenhouse can stand alone or be attached by one end to an existing structure.

Lean-to

• Lean-to greenhouses have a roof, a front wall and two end walls. Lean-to greenhouses are attached to existing structures whose exterior wall forms the greenhouse's fourth wall. Because this style greenhouse is attached to another building, utilities such as electricity and water are easy to access.