A half-hip roof is a hybrid between a gable and a hip roof.
Effectively, the half-hip roof is a gable roof with its gables chamfered off to create ‘hipped ends’. The upper point of the gables is replaced by a small hip, squaring off the top of the gable. Generally speaking, the pitch (slope) of its hip ends is steeper than that of the adjacent sloping roof planes.
A gable is the portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches.
You’ll sometimes see half-hip roofs with ornaments called finials or hip knobs at each end of the ridge.
It is also possible that the gable roof has only one hipped end.
A half-hip roof has a hip above a gable. The hipped part is at the top and the gable section is lower down.
The opposite is also possible. In other words a roof with a gable above a hip. The gable section is at the top and the hipped part is lower down. This roof has a different name and is known as a Dutch gable roof (US) or gablet roof (UK).
The Dutch gable is also used to mean a gable roof with parapets.
Synonyms half-hip roof
You’ll hear many different terms used for the half-hip roof, including half-hipped roof, hipped-gable roof, clipped-gable roof, jerkin head roof, Dutch hip roof, Dutch gable roof, and gablet roof.
See also
