Tudor Home Roof Designs

Tudor homes are a classic style, with their use of natural colors and materials making them simply timeless. Stucco, wood, stone and brick are often their main counterparts, with earthy color tones and the more recent trend including white or black mixed in. The Tudor design originates from 16th century medieval England and Wales* with the style making its way to the US during the early 20th century [1]. Traditional English Tudor homes typically have either slate, clay tile or thatch roofs. When the style first came to the US, architects attempted to recreate the distinct thatch roof on these homes, using cedar shingles to replicate the natural appearance of thatch. Gables, eaves, and valleys were steam-bent to mimic the natural flow of thatch, and the shingles were installed in a wavy pattern to replicate the different layers of thatching. The end result was a style all its own, and a quite beautiful one at that!

In the 1980s when the cedar roofs began to fail due to age, we got our start with our patented equipment, steam-bending cedar shingles to replicate the 1920s undulating roof design (read more about our story here!). 

Featured below are some of our most favorite Tudor roof designs we’ve completed through the years:

MacNider Art Museum

This unique private residence turned art museum is located in Mason City, Iowa. It boasts all the features of the English Tudor style: the mixed brick patterns, stone, half-timbering and of course, the faux-thatch roof, which we meticulously replaced in 2008.

Minnesota Lake House

This 1919 lake home is a gorgeous representation of an English-American Tudor home. The stucco walls, lighter stained half timbers, sweeping cedar shingle roof and surrounding gardens evoke a whimsical charm reminiscent of an old-world countryside retreat.

Eyebrow Dormers

One of the more unique cottage roof designs we’ve done features ‘eyebrow’ dormers. This roof design was original to the home, and includes custom hanging gutters.

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View our Country Cottage porfolio to see more Tudor and similar styled homes, or read more about our Tudor Revival roofs here:

Sources:

[1] https://www.thespruce.com/tudor-architecture-478822

California Cottage

Over the summer, we completed the gorgeous cottage roof in California. Built in 1940, the original roof was a Tudor cottage-style cedar roof, similar to this replacement. Used in the re-roof were our 16” #1 Grade, Fire-Treated Cedar Shingles along with AirCore underneath to provide better air flow under the shingles. The shingles for the gables and eaves were steam-bent to wrap around the edges, along with the valleys to give the roof a seamless, flowing look. We love how this one turned out!

Roofing at the Baal Shem Tov Shul

Cedar Shingle Roofing at the Baal Shem Tov Shul

We recently had the privilege of roofing the Baal Shem Tov Shul located in New York. This building is a replica of a Ukranian Shul by the same name that was torn down during WWII. This replica even includes bricks various Poland Shuls, as well as bricks from the Mila 18 Bunker (The Rockland Daily).

For the roof portion, they requested the faux-thatch look which was created by using our steam-bent cedar shingles along with a drunken weave installation pattern. Shingles used in this installation were #1 Fivex Western Red Cedar Shingles, with some being steam-bent to fit the curve of the dormers. 

We were so honored to have a part in the making of this building, and hope it lives on to serve the people as well as the memories proudly.

1929 False-Thatch Cottage

This stunning home is a local icon in a suburb outside of Arkon, OH. The original construction of the home was completed in 1929, when the “false thatch” roof design was all the rage. This particular home’s roof features ‘Zook’ shingles, a variation of the False Thatch style in which the gables and eaves are stacked with short shingles instead of being steam-bent. This variation comes from Bill Kramer who roofed for renowned architect R. Harold Zook. This home’s architect, Roy Firestone, used the same “Zook” shingle concept intertwined with the false thatch wave coursing. The roof we tore off is thought to have been previously replaced after a 1947 fire in the home, making the previous roof about 74 years old! Shingles used in our replacement were #1 Grade 16” 5X Western Red Cedar Shingles, which were CCA treated to help deter mold and mildew. Prior to tear-off, pictures of each roof plane were taken to be referenced back to during the installation process in order to match the design as closely as possible to the original. As with all historic homes, we match the design as closely as possible, while still finding ways to improve any design flaws to ensure the absolute longest life possible.

Smurf Roof

Blue Storybook Style Roof

This blue or “Smurf” colored roof was completed by our team and Huber and Associates a few years back, and is composed of our steam-bent cedar shingles. This style of roofing is often referred to as Mushroom or Fairytale, and is characterized by its steep slopes, rolled edges and wave coursing throughout. The bright blue color was chosen to match the original roof color from when the home was first built in the 1920s. We had such a blast completing this project!

Photo Credits: Zillow and Custom Shingles