Solving the Roof

After much research by the owners, a century-old Storybook home gets a 21st-century roof treatment.

- Douglas Keister

When updating an old house, homeowners face myriad  challenges. Top of the list is updating kitchens and bathrooms while remaining sensitive to the architectural style. Concealing modern heating and air-conditioning ductwork comes in at a close second.

Roofing material, though, is usually an afterthought, if it is considered at all. Consider that asphalt shingles were introduced in 1903 and were commonplace a decade later. Truth be told, even 19th- century houses that originally had wood roof shingles generally wear their new asphalt shingles well.

A special case

There are exceptions. Enter Storybook Style homes. Storybook homes, in a style that blossomed in Hollywood in the early 1920s, are a whimsical adaptation of Old World homes—their “olde” roofs are sheathed in slate, thatch, sawn wood shingles, or shakes (thick shingles split from straight-grained logs).

Although asphalt shingles were prevalent at the time, Storybook Style builders most often used wood shingles and, on occasion, slate. When they wanted to simulate thatch, they used steam-bent wood shingles to mimic the contours of thatch. When re-roofing is required, modern roofing contractors often forgo steam bending in favor of easy-to-bend asphalt. The result, alas, is far from ideal.