I am partial to gables – choosing that architectural term as one part of this blog’s name – to represent the building side of my passions. And of course, Anne of Green Gables will forever hold a prized place on my bookshelves.* But even a well-loved term can sometimes do with a bit of explanation.
Turn-of-the-century T-plan houses in Kentucky often have gables like this on the facade.
A gable is essentially a vertical surface on a building adjoining a pitched roof, typically at the end of said roof, resulting in a triangular shape (although that shape is dependent on what type of roof covers the building).
The gable on this Owensboro, Kentucky house has a three-part window and fishscale shingles.
The location of the gable is usually from the cornice line up to the ridge of the roof.
This is a side gable house – the gables are on the side elevations, not the front of the house. Flemingsburg, Kentucky.
Gables may be on the facade, the side, or rear of a building. When I talk about a “front-gable” house, I mean that the facade is composed of a gable, rather than that gable being a “side-gable” and therefore located at either side of the building. The typical children’s drawing of a house is a that of a front-gable dwelling – a square topped by a triangle.
A front-gable house in Frankfort, Kentucky.
The only time you won’t find a gable in that intersection of wall and roof is when the roof is flat, a shed roof, or a hipped roof.
A church in Augusta, Kentucky, composed of a front gable section flanked by a square bell tower.
Wonderful detail in the gable of the Trinity Methodist Church in Augusta, Kentucky.
A gable is, strictly speaking, a utilitarian part of a building. But the gables on the front of houses are anything but ordinary and utilitarian.
A gable in Lexington, Kentucky.
A gable featuring the most delicious curves around the bay window. Oak Park, Illinois.
Some architectural styles make more use of gables than others, but the majority of historic American houses have gables – they just might not take center stage.
The Tudor Revival style, seen in this restrained example in Harlan, Kentucky, employs gables as a hallmark of the style.
Many mid-19th century houses, including those designed in the Greek Revival and Gothic Revival styles, used the gable to beautiful effect.
A front gable house, circa 1854, in Lewisport, Hancock County, Kentucky.
Gables can hold a multitude of ornament and decoration – shingles, brackets, bargeboard, windows, vents – the possibilities are almost endless. See why I am so fond of them?
A striking gable in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.
*The house that inspired the farmhouse in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s book is a 19th century front-gable farmhouse – and the gables are painted green!
Great post! I too love gables, my little house has four, one on each side. Also, loved Anne of Green Gables and also Hawthorne’s “House of the Seven Gables”.
Enjoyed all the pictures. Could you talk more about the T- plan houses. My house may be one of those but I am not familiar with this term.
If I can get my act together, I will put together a post about T-plans. It is a Kentucky term to describe a house with the footprint of a T, with one projecting front gable in front of a lateral wing that extends to the side. So the front gable portion forms the top of the “T” while the side portion is the “leg” of the T. Lexington is full of them! In North Carolina, they call this type of house a “gable and a wing.”
Thanks, that would be greatly appreciated. My house is 722 Hambrick Avenue. Maybe a T house?
Yes! I would call that a T-plan! I’m trying to round up measured plans, because many of the 1.5 story T-plan houses don’t have the same interior layout as the larger 2-story T-plans. It’s an interesting type – one of my favorites!