Popular Old House Styles and Their Roofs
In a city rich with history like Minneapolis, it’s not surprising that you can find many old houses that take styling inspiration from different periods.
We at Garlock-French Corporation, the leading home improvement expert that offers roofing and gutters in Minneapolis, have been around for more than 80 years. With our vast experience of providing homeowners with top-of-the-line roofing products and services, we can confidently say that we know all the popular house styles in Minneapolis and the roofing materials that would best suit each style.
Here’s a brief introduction of the three most popular house styles in the Twin Cities. We also included some of our experts’ recommendations on which roofing materials would best complement each one of them:
Colonial Revival
This modern take on a classic colonial house is known for its “boxy” appearance, which usually comes in two- to two-and-a-half story structures. One other feature that will help distinguish a Colonial house is the chimney, which is either in the middle of the roof or placed one on each side of the house.
There are also different types of Colonial houses, some of which include Dutch Colonial, Postwar Colonial, and Federal and Adams Colonial. The Dutch Colonial style probably is the one that differs the most among these beautiful house styles because of its gambrel roof—a roof type that has multiple pitches.
• Roofing materials: cedar shingles and asphalt shingles
Cape Cod
Cape Cod houses have been a favorite for centuries. It was first introduced in the 1600s but was revived and popularized between the 1920s and the 1940s. Cape Cod houses are so popular that you can actually find this simple yet charming house style all over the country—in the suburbs, cities, and even in rural towns.
Cape Cod houses are typically one- to one-and-a-half stories tall and sometimes come with gabled dormers on the front end. It also has a symmetrical façade and a steeply pitched roof.
• Roofing materials: asphalt shingles
Italianate
This beautiful house style usually has a two- to three-floor construction that is meant to mimic an Italian villa. It has many exterior ornamentations—contrasting the more ascetic looks of another popular style, the Victorian house. Italianate houses typically have elaborately bracketed overhanging eaves, an almost flat roof, cornices, and a dome-like structure called a cupola that lets in an ample amount of light and air from the top of the house.
• Roofing materials: metal, cedar shingles, and asphalt shingles
In these classical house styles, your roof will definitely be the crowning glory. That’s why you should rely only on a professional who has all the right equipment, knowledge, and products to enhance a traditional home’s overall appearance. If you have a beautiful, classically styled home, choose Garlock-French Corporation, the most experienced roofer that installs not only roofs but also gutters in Minneapolis, MN. Get in touch with our experienced roofing contractors today to get started on your next roofing project.
