"Richard Maurer" wrote in message
news:01c703ac$70085140$b39e480c@default...
ChitaShines wrote:
Where does the term "California Roof"
come from (historically)?

I understand the asymetric nature of my roof
(the top being about foot wider than the bottom)
is called a California Roof (or California Rake) -
but where does the name "California Roof" come from.




I am thinking Eichler roof. Building is not my field,
but I did live in an Eichler house for a few years.
An Eichler house has an distinctive roof style,
as well as other identifiable features.

As to why it might be called a California roof
rather than an Eichler roof (if indeed that is
the relevant sense):

1) Almost all Eichlers were built in California.
A visiting builder would likely only see them there.

2) There were Eichlers, and there were subdivisions
architected by admirers of Eichlers. A California
roof would be a sensible combining term.

3) The roof style was later used on other buildings
besides Eichler houses.

Someone posted links to houses that had "California roofs", but I wasn't
able to distinguish what makes them have the name. And now, calling
them Eichler roofs is not clearing them up any further.

If the top is a foot wider than the bottom, what does that mean?
http://www.eichlernetwork.com/HDroofing1.html

http://tinyurl.com/yj9b26

(
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...-8&sa=N&tab=wi )


The description and appearance (aside from the center roofline in the
image) really appear to fit the nature of the prairie house
archetecture, with its deep eaves. In winter, the low sun provides a
lot of heat and light to the interior, while in the summer, when the sun
is high, the direct heating and lighting is minimized.
Images here don't link to informative pages, but they show solar
paneling being installed on a flat roof.


http://tinyurl.com/y7znuy

http://images.google.com/images?svnu...airie+style%22

Clicking on one of the images (a drawing, actually) brought up this
description: (Most of the images are of at least 2-story houses, but I
grew up understanding that the basic "ranch-style" suburban house was
based on the prairie school of architecture. Of course I have probably
confused two entirely separate theories.)

"Houses of the Prairie style are characterized by an overall horizontal
emphasis achieved by low proportions, low-pitched or flat roofs with
wide overhangs, banded casement windows, and low, massive chimneys.
Prairie houses are irregular in plan, two stories high, with one-story
wings. Siding is brick or stucco with stone or wood trim.

The Prairie style was developed in Chicago by architect Frank Lloyd
Wright around the turn of the century. Wright disapproved of styles that
were revivals of earlier styles and designed buildings with horizontal
emphasis and an open simplicity that would relate to the flat, open
landscape of the Middle West. The Prairie style is most common in
Chicago, other parts of Illinois, and in surrounding states."

(The small descriptions of the Eichler boom seem to locate them in the
SF Bay area.)