Style Guides
The right roof for the home you already have.
Architectural style is the single biggest filter on what reads “right” up top — the pitch, the eave depth, and the period the home is borrowing from all narrow the answer. Pick yours for a plain-English guide on the materials, shingle profiles, and colors that flatter it (and the ones that quietly don’t).
- Craftsman
The Best Roof for a Craftsman Home
The Craftsman bungalow lives or dies on the roofline — wide eaves, triangular gables, exposed rafter tails. Here's how to choose a material and color that honor the style and survive the install details unique to it.
1905–1930 originals; ongoing revival
- Ranch
The Best Roof for a Ranch (or Rambler) Home
The horizontal roofline IS the ranch. Picking the right material for the low pitch, long runs, and big visible roof surface is the difference between an iconic mid-century home and a tired one.
1940s–1970s; ongoing revival
- Cape Cod
The Best Roof for a Cape Cod Home
The steep, symmetrical pitch is the entire personality of a Cape. Here's how to choose a shingle profile and color that honor the New England original — and the climate considerations that matter most in salt air, snow, and freeze-thaw.
1690s origins; 20th-century revival
- Colonial
The Best Roof for a Colonial Home
Symmetric, formal, brick-anchored — the colonial wants a roof that respects the geometry without competing with it. Here's how to choose one that reads classic now and still reads classic in thirty years.
1700s origins; revival 1880s–present
- Modern Farmhouse
The Best Roof for a Modern Farmhouse
Black standing seam, matte charcoal, and the rules for mixing materials cleanly — a deep guide to the roof that defines the modern farmhouse look without falling into a Pinterest cliché.
Contemporary (2010s–present)
- Tudor
The Best Roof for a Tudor Home
Steep, dark, and detailed — Tudor roofs do the heavy lifting on what makes the style feel storybook. Here's how to choose a material whose texture survives the pitch and whose color reads richly enough to honor it.
Revival 1900–1930; ongoing
- Victorian
The Best Roof for a Victorian Home
Turrets, multiple steep pitches, intricate detail — a Victorian roof is the most demanding install in residential roofing. Here's how to choose a material that can actually carry the architecture, and why the contractor matters as much as the shingle.
1837–1901
- Mediterranean
The Best Roof for a Mediterranean (or Spanish Colonial) Home
Stucco walls want tile. Period. But there's a real conversation around clay vs concrete, structural weight, salt-air flashing, and the asphalt and synthetic alternatives for retrofits — done with eyes open.
Spanish Colonial origins; revival 1915–1940
- Mid-Century Modern
The Best Roof for a Mid-Century Modern Home
Low pitch, big overhangs, clean lines — mid-century homes punish the wrong material choice. Here's how to choose a roof that respects the architecture and answers the technical demands of a low-slope deck.
1945–1970
- Contemporary
The Best Roof for a Contemporary (Modern) Home
A contemporary roof has nowhere to hide — every line is visible. Here's how to pick a material that matches the architecture's intent and lasts as long as the architect promised.
2000s–present