What Is a Jerkinhead Roof?

A jerkinhead roof is a gable roof whose upper gable ends are clipped into short hips. Architects also call it a hipped-gable or clipped-gable roof. A Library of Congress-hosted architectural glossary defines a jerkinhead as a gable roof with a hipped end.

Some regional sources use “Dutch hip,” but the term can cause confusion. A Dutch-gable roof usually places a gable above a hipped roof, which is a different arrangement.

History and Examples

Jerkinhead roofs appear on historic and revival-style buildings. A Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey describes the jerkinhead roof at Maryland's Ratcliffe Manor as a surviving early- to mid-18th-century design. The National Park Service also describes the Isle Royale Lighthouse keeper's dwelling as having a hipped-gable or jerkinhead-gable roof.

The clipped ends create a distinct silhouette, but no reliable source reviewed for this update establishes that the form is growing in popularity in specific countries or belongs mainly to cottages, bungalows, or churches.

How Jerkinhead Roofs Are Built

A jerkinhead roof combines a main gable frame with short hipped sections at the gable ends. Builders may use site-built rafters or engineered trusses. The design can add framing, sheathing, and flashing details compared with a simple gable of the same size.

Rafters, trusses, hips, valleys, connections, bracing, and the load path must suit the building, spans, materials, local loads, and applicable code. Use engineered plans and qualified roofing and framing professionals. This overview is not a construction guide.

Wind Performance

Clipping a gable changes wind flow and may reduce some gable-end exposure. That does not make every jerkinhead roof better or “ideal” in high winds. FEMA's Hazus hurricane guidance distinguishes hip, gable, and flat roof shapes in wind-loss modeling, but it does not assign a universal advantage to jerkinhead roofs.

Pitch, overhangs, roof covering, deck attachment, openings, connections, building geometry, and local design loads all affect wind performance. High-wind construction needs a continuous load path and site-specific details.

Service Life

The jerkinhead shape does not determine service life. Roof covering, underlayment, drainage, flashing, ventilation or unvented-assembly design, climate, workmanship, inspection, and maintenance all affect longevity. Insulation changes heat flow through the assembly, but it does not guarantee a longer-lasting roof.

Advantages and Tradeoffs

• Distinct appearance: Clipped gable ends can suit historic, traditional, and revival-style designs.
• Less full-height gable area: The short hips replace the upper portion of each gable, although the wind effect depends on the complete design.
• Added complexity: The clipped ends can require more framing and flashing detail than a basic gable.
• Attic layout: Short hips may reduce usable attic volume near the roof ends. The amount depends on pitch, span, and interior design.
• Access and ventilation: The framing can complicate access or vent layout, but a designer can use a code-compliant vented or unvented assembly.

Related Roof Forms

• Hip roof: All roof sides slope toward the walls, usually without a full-height gable.
• Pyramid hip roof: Four sloped sides meet at one point over a square plan.
• Cross-hip roof: Intersecting hipped sections create valleys.
• Dutch-gable roof: A gable sits above a hipped lower roof.
• Combination roof: A building uses more than one roof form, such as a hip roof with gabled dormers.

Jerkinhead Roof Cost

No single total-price range applies to this roof form. Region, measured roof surface area, pitch, span, framing or structural changes, covering, tear-off, access, flashing, drainage, permits, and labor all affect cost.

Compare itemized local quotes based on the same plans and material specifications. A reroof that keeps sound framing and a new structure that requires custom framing are not comparable projects. Use our roof replacement cost guide to check which removal, deck, flashing, and permit costs each proposal includes.