Saltbox Roofs

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A Saltbox Roof is a gabled roof has asymmetrical roof faces and the asymmetry produces one facade that is two stories high dropping to a single story or story and a half on the opposite side of the building. The design is very simple, yet provides better thermal insulation and water-proofing than other roofs. A drawback is the limited amount of available attic space.

Named after its resemblance to saltboxes used in Colonial Times, saltbox roofs are typical of Colonial architecture in New England. Often a rectangular home was built and the portion was added to the rear of it afterwards. In fact, the saltbox was the most widely used expansion of the basic plan in 17th-century New England.

Second U.S. President John Adams was born and lived his early boyhood in a Saltbox home that was built in 1650. The shed addition to a basic two-story home was what made it a saltbox. As with other saltbox homes of that time, the home was initially one room deep. For centuries English cottages were only one room deep and as they became financially able to, they built an addition called a lean-to at the rear of the house. Saltboxes became common in England by the end of the 1500s. When colonists came to the New World, they transplanted the cottage architecture they knew in their homeland.

In Colonial times, the lower rear portion of the home was often used as a partially enclosed shed, which was oriented north as a windbreak. These square or rectangular homes typically have a large central chimney and large, double-hung windows with shutters. Exterior walls are made of clapboard or shingles. In the South this style is known as a "cat's slide" and was a popular in the 1800s.

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