February, 1909 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 5. 
Ww 
Three Types of Gambrel Roof Houses 
By Paul Thurston 
ne NE of the special purposes in building a 
4% country house is to secure as far as pos- 
sible all the available space under as small 
a roof as requirements demand. The 
gambrel roof house presents the form by 
which the smallest area surface of ground 
may be utilized to the greatest advan- 
tage, especially when a large number of sleeping rooms are 
desired. 
This applies, of course, to the two-and-a-half-story house. 
The advantage of the gambrel roof over the gable roof is 
best shown in the fact that a greater height of ceiling is 
obtained over the same floor space than in a house which is 
covered with a gable roof, and this is certainly an advantage 
when the attic of a house is required for extra rooms. 
The house of Mr. Walter C. Sampson, at Summit, New 
Jersey (Fig. 1), is one type of gambrel roof house where 
the gambrel starts at the beginning of the second-story floor 
joists. This is done in order to economize in the space, and 
the reduction of the height of the house, making it only a 
two-story house in the outlines of a one-and-a-half-story 
house. 
The exterior design of Mr. Sampson’s house (Fig. 2), 
as well as the interior, are very attractive, and are the work 
of Messrs. Rossiter and Wright, architects, of New York. 
The color scheme of the exterior is yellow and white. The 
interior is finished in a simple manner with artistic results. 
The woodwork is stained a Flemish brown tone and the 
walls are tinted in soft browns and yellows, which harmonize 
well with the trim. The living-room (Fig. 3) has an open 
1—Mr. Sampson’s house at Summit, New Jersey, presents one style of gambrel roof which is most attractive 
