Mansard roof

“ The width, 21 feet, adapts it to a 25-foot village lot, leaving a side passage to the rear.... Exterior, (figs. 34 and 35.) —The style of any building is determined by the form of its roof; the steep and hooded style in this design accords fully with domestic feelings and artistic sentiments, and is growing [50] in public favor for suburban structures. Compared with the usual Mansard style is more practical, less expensive, and serves equally well. The side-angles, porches, bay-window, cornices, and chimneys, each of simple construction, make up a pleasing variety of parts. ”

“ The architect was the younger Mansard (1647 to 1768) , and the vastness of the scale upon which he worked only [Pg 203] makes his failure to rise to his grand opportunity the more conspicuous. The absence of features to diversify the sky-line is one of the greatest defects of this building, a defect the less excusable as the high-pitched roof of Gothic origin had never been abandoned in France. This roof has been employed with great success in many buildings of the French Renaissance. ”

“ The siding is of narrow, clear pine clapboards, laid on “thicknessed” sheathing. The Mansard part of the main roof is covered by 8 × 16-inch slate—the piazza, bay-window, kitchen, stoop, cornices, window, and deck roof with IC. charcoal tin—all laid on hemlock boards. Tarred felting is spread under all siding and slate. The first [81] and second stories are fully completed inside; the attic is floored, but otherwise unfinished, but may be divided at any time into rooms as shown for the second story (fig. 57) . The interior plastering is three-coat work, on seasoned lath. ”

“ Roofs of steeper pitch must be able to support a live load of 21 lb per square foot. The framing of Mansard or other roofs of more than 60° pitch on a building exceeding 45 ft. high must be constructed of approved fireproof material at least 2 in. thick. N0 roofs exce t those of towers, turrets or spires shall exceed 70° pitch for a R/Iansard or 60° for an ordinary roof. Every fireproof roof, in addition to a door or scuttle for access from below, must have a skylight or skylights with metallic framing, having an area equal to at least one-sixtieth the area of the roof. ”

“ What above all distinguishes the mature Second Empire mode, even more in other countries than in France, is the elaboration of three-dimensional composition by the employment of visible mansard roofs and of pavilions at the ends and centres of buildings, these last capped either with especially tall straight-sided mansards or, even more characteristically, with convex or concave ones. ”

“ John, and in the northern part of Maine, one sees the wooden houses of the French Canadians having roofs widely projecting, with the eaves gracefully turning upward, presenting a much prettier appearance than does the stiff angular roof of the New England house.
It is indeed a matter of wonder that some one in building a house in this country does not revert to a thatched roof. Our architectural history shows an infinite number of reversions, and if a thatched roof were again brought into vogue, a new charm would be added to our landscape. ”

“ The windows were generally spaced carefully and were in harmony with the front door, making an attractive exterior. The walls were of wood, often with a layer of brick to keep out the cold and also to form a better protection. The roofs, more especially in the early houses, were very [Pg 149] steep, since they were planned for thatching; later on, when shingles came into use, they grew lower and wider. It was not until 1700 that the gambrel roof came into style. In considering the evolution of the house we must look backward, and thus we come to realize the progression of architecture. ”

“ Between the ribs, timbers are fixed which carry minor ribs at a distance of eight feet apart, and upon these the ridge-and-furrow roofing is constructed in the manner that has been described for the flat roofing, but following the curve of the arched ribs. At the springing or foot of the arch on either side of the transept there is a range of louvre-frames to assist in the ventilation of the building, and on the top of the arch externally a narrow passage is formed to give access to the different parts of this roof. ”

“ Some of the flatter roofs are pebbled all over like a courtyard, and others, such as the roof of this house, for instance, are covered with sod and crops of grass, the two latter arrangements being precautions against risks from sparks during fires. These paving stones are certainly the cheapest possible mode of keeping the roofs on the houses in such a windy region, but they look odd.
None of the streets, except one high up the hill, with a row of fine temples and temple grounds, call for any notice. Nearly every house is a shop ”

“ In modern houses it has long been shown that, without much increased expense, the use of walls built hollow will keep the rooms effectually warm and dry, and yet this mode of building is the exception rather than the rule, possibly because it gives the architect or the builder a little additional trouble. A slated roof, if ill-constructed, is a material agent in allowing of the escape of heat, because there is necessarily an inlet for air where the slates overlap. The old thatched roof, although most dangerous in cases of fire, was a great preserver of heat. ”

“ Roofs and chimney-tops have been treated as necessary evils, instead of being made, as they may be, highly ornamental. The unity of the plan, as a work of art, is lost as you ascend above the eaves, all the rest seeming like excrescences growing out of structures otherwise commendable and satisfactory. The superior horizontal lines of the roof will depend somewhat upon the background of the house. ”

“ Those of the upper stories, which rise from them, and form the habitable part of the house above, are much slighter than the lower ones, and the joists and wooden-work about the roof are adapted for security against such accidents, by their being fastened with bolts on either side of the masonry, thus enabling it to give a little play to the motion of the shock, without being displaced by it, and coming down, as thick and heavy walls would most certainly do. ”

“ At intervals, and with the view of steadying the one-foot thick beams, buttresses of masonry rise from the stone foundation up to the roof, which, in turn, is constructed of oaken shingles and boards, one foot square, laid over each other. The roofing is both light and proof against the rain. ”

“ The weight of the roof is invariably supported upon wooden pillars, and this, too, in the most primitive manner. Huge beams are laid across from the top of one pillar to the top of another, and from the centres of these beams the roof-tree is supported. There is an utter lack of anything like a strengthening truss to prevent the building from getting out of plumb; and as only that portion of the ground immediately under each of the pillars is specially prepared, to prevent sinking, we see that the enormous weight of the tiled roof rests upon a ludicrously insufficient foundation. ”

“ The external and the internal covering of a building are very often not the same; the outer covering is then usually called a roof—the other, a vault or ceiling. In not a few Gothic buildings, however, they were the same; such buildings had what are known as open roofs—i.e. roofs in which the whole of the timber framing of which they are constructed is open to view from the interior right up to the tiles or lead. Very few open roofs of E. E. character are now remaining, but a good many parish churches retain roofs of the Dec., and more of the Perp. ”

“ The roof covering would better be of slate or tiles, for the time has passed for building temporary, make-shift houses, though they might have served their purpose well in a new and rapidly developing country. With rare exceptions, the houses to be built in the future should be permanently located, well built, and of durable material. The slates which compose a roof should be not more than 8 inches wide and should not be put on roofs of less than one-third pitch, since they are only double-lapped and do not lie as closely, one upon the other, as do shingles, which are laid triple-lapped. ”

“ The principal advantage of the Polyprosopic roof, is its portability, that is, it can be made in sashes, and transported to any portion of the country, thus obviating the necessity of painting and glazing in the hot atmosphere of the interior, or loss of time from storms, etc., on outside work. The fixed roof house can be sent anywhere primed, but the glazing and second coat of paint must be done after the erection of the building; either house we think equally well adapted to growing purposes, but as a matter of beauty and economy we give the preference to the fixed curvilinear roof. ”

“ Pierced by windows it may be, and broken by gables, but steep enough to shed rain and snow, and high enough to be plainly visible to the coming guest, promising safety and welcome beneath its tranquil shade. Practically, the steep roof is better than any other, because a flat one cannot be as permanently covered with any known material at so little cost, the multitudes of cheap and durable patent roofings to the contrary notwithstanding. By steep roofs I mean any that have sufficient pitch to allow the use of slate or shingle. ”

“ So far as more room and modern comforts are concerned, an architect or builder knowing his old Nantucket can usually plan to provide them in “doing over” an old house and still not harm its exterior. But all hope is lost if the roof lines are spoiled by large shed-roof dormers or a dormer room, and only less disfiguring are large “sun parlors,” piazzas, exterior chimneys, or flat roofed ells or projections, built where visible from the front. ”

“ There are apes and hares peeping through wonderfully chiselled leaves, and doves and demons, and dragons writhing in storms. And while looking up at these, my eye is attracted by a peculiar velvety appearance of the woodwork forming the immense projecting eaves of the roof. Under the tiling it is more than a foot thick. By standing on tiptoe I can touch it; and I discover that it is even more velvety to the touch than to the sight. Further examination reveals the fact that this colossal roofing is not solid timber, only the beams are solid. ”

“ The outside walls are of mud and stone, and the roof, when of tiles, is supported by a huge beam that runs from one end of the house to the other. The corners of the roof are usually curled up after the Chinese fashion. A stone slab runs along the whole length of the roof, and is turned up at the two ends, over the upper angle of the roof itself. The tiles are cemented at the two sides of this slab, and likewise at the lower borders of the roof. The windows, again, are rectangular and are placed directly under the roof, being in consequence well protected from the rain. ”

“ The original portion of the spring house is constructed of stone, with stucco exterior finish. The frame addition is covered with rough-sawn redwood lap siding over half-inch vapor-sealed sheathing. The roofing for this portion of the house is slate shingles, matching the slate roof of the original portion which used shingles taken from the mansion house when it was renovated in 1942. ”

“ The building G of the plan, instead of standing on an artificial mound, rests on the level plain, but the usual effect is produced by excavating the surface about it, thus giving it the appearance of resting on a raised foundation. It measures forty-eight by one hundred and forty-nine feet, and its outer walls are perfectly plain. The roof is reached by a stairway forty-five feet wide in the centre of the eastern front, while, corresponding with the stairway, on the western front is a solid projection thirty-four by forty-four feet, of unknown use. ”

“ Wherever roofs still remain they are found to be well constructed (pl. 9) and to resemble those of the old Hopi houses. In Spruce-tree House the roofs are supported by timbers laid from one wall to another; these in turn support crossbeams on which were placed layers of cedar bark covered with a thick coating of mud. In several roofs hatchways are still to be seen, but in most cases entrances are at the sides. One second-story room has a fireplace constructed like those on the ground floor or on the roof. ”

“ Between the rafters so described, ridges are supported by light sash-bars sloping up to them, at an inclination of two-and-a-half to one, and the rafter itself forms the bottom of the furrow. The advantage of this form of roofing is the facility it affords for the escape of the water, which runs from the surface of the roof into the Paxton's gutters; from them it is discharged into the main gutters resting on the roof-girders, by which it is conducted to the hollow columns, and passes down through them into the drains. ”

“ A large dome is grand, owing to its great simplicity, but the same plain outlines, or lack of ornamentation, in the ceiling of a square or rectangular building would be painful to view, hence, the braces, beams, plates, and various supports of the roofed truss served as ornamental parts, and it is in this particular that the art of the designer finds his inspiration.
[Pg 187] Before proceeding to apply the matter of ornamentation, it might be well to develop these roof forms, starting with the old type Barn Roof, where the space between the rafters must be utilized for the storage of hay. ”