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After Americans started building cottages that were more than refuges from the storm, they began to introduce dormers.
Attics became more than storage spaces. Since there were so many gabled roofs, many dormer windows on the upper floor used
the same type of roof over the window.
The name of the roof over a dormer window comes from the name of a roof shape, but folks are bound to mix and match
dormer roofs. See the page on roof styles. The windows in the illustration are gable dormers.
Less common inset or recessed dormers create a different look because they are
set back into the roof.
If they are set back flush with the wall above or below the cornice line, they are called wall dormers.
Wall dormers tend to feature highly ornamental surrounds.
Dormer Lore
Gable Dormers
Mostly found in Colonial Revival, Georgian, Shingle, Queen Anne, Stick, Chateauesque, Tudor, and Craftsman homes. Their
history roots were in the 16th century during the English Tudor period.
However, they can also be found in Arts & Crafts, Federal, and Gothic Revival styles. Gothic Revival features
steeply pitched gable dormers filled with multiple geometric panes and accented with cutout bargeboard ornaments.
Hipped dormers
aka Jerkinhead, clipped, shreadhead
These dormers have a hipped roof with three sloping planes that meet at the top.
Found in Prairie, Shingle, Craftsman, houses with hipped roofs. Craftsman dormers are exposed, extended rafter
ends on a hipped dormer.
Arched dormers
Second Empire, Beaux Arts, French Eclectic.
Shed dormers
These have a roof with a single sloping plane extending over the window.
Craftsman, Arts & Crafts, Colonial Revival.
Eyebrow dormers
Eyebrow dormers have a low upward curve, with no distinct vertical sides, allowing for a curved window that looks
much like an eye behind drooping eyelids.
Shingle, Romanesque, Queen Anne. Eyebrow dormers are often seen in shingled roofs particularly in the Shingle style of
architecture popular in the late 19th century.
Pedimented Dormers
The pediment is a triangular gable across the window. Georgian, Federal, Colonial Revival styles.
Round or oval dormers
French Eclectic, Beaux Arts, possibly Italian Renaissance.
Through-the-cornice dormers
Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Neoclassical, Second Empire styles.
Composite dormers include several of the above forms.
Google's SketchUp makes fantastic dormers!
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