Housing Characteristics

Bay Window 
Projection from the side of a house into which
one or more windows are set.





Casement Window 
A window that opens by swinging inward or outward much like a door.
Casement windows are usually vertical in shape but are often grouped in bands.




Clapboard
Also known as weatherboard or siding. Long, narrow boards overlapped to cover the
outer walls.used in Colonial style houses.



 Dormer
The setting for a vertical window in the roof. Called a gable dormer if it has
its own gable of shed dormer if a flat roof.  Most often found in upstairs bedroom




Eaves 
That portion of the roof that projects beyond the wall.



Fanlight 
A semicircular or arched window above a door.




Palladian Window 
A three part window featuring a large arched center and flanking rectangular sidelights.




Pediment 
A triangular crown used over doors, windows, or porches. A classical style.



Portico 
A large porch usually with a pedimented roof supported by classical columns.



Rafter 
A roof beam sloping from the ridge to the wall. In most houses, rafters are visible only from the attic. In styles such as craftsman bungalows and some "rustic" contemporaries, they are exposed.



Sidelights
Windows on either side of a door.




Turret 
A small tower,often at the corner of a building. Common in Queen Anne styles among others. A turret is a smaller structure while tower begins at ground level