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Cupolas
Have you ever noticed a small white tower pointing out of a roof? This type of fixture is referred to as a cupola. Not only are cupolas designed for home roofs, but shed cupolas and barns with cupolas can also be spotted. Cupolas are wood or vinyl structures ranging from a few feet in height to large enough to fit an adult person and can be installed onto roofs for ornamental purposes or to mimic the style of many colonial New England homes.
Cupolas are one item of home decor that started out as functional and became ornamental over the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. Cupolas, regardless of size, are small, sometimes dome-like, structures that are set on top of a building to be used as a lookout point or for light and air. Many roof cupolas are designed like small buildings and are a more elaborate enclosure than a simple roof. Many roof top fixtures fall into the category of cupolas, including a belfry, lantern, or belvedere, and are accessible from the inside. Some of these types of cupolas differ in structure, particularly belvederes and lantern. For example, when a cupola is accessible from the inside of a house, it is referred to as a belvedere, and if it is perforated with windows for ventilation and light, it is referred to as a lantern and is not always accessible from the inside of a house.
A cupola open appears as a crown-like structure on top of a roof and is typically found attached to roofs on older homes, barns, and churches in North America. Roof cupolas, however, actually date back to the Greco-Roman period as descendants of watchtowers. In colonial North America, cupolas had the same function - as private watchtowers for homes, particularly those in whaling and fishing sea ports. They were build on many homes in these towns for families to watch if their loved ones returned from sea and, as a result of this purpose, are called "The Widow's Walk." Later in the eighteenth century, they became designed with many non-coastal homes in the northeast United States and were decorated with a weathervane in some cases.
Cupolas are no longer commonly built in with homes but they can be installed onto the roofs of many homes. The most common designs for cupolas are octagonal cupolas. These wooden cupolas are made of redwood and have a copper roof occasionally topped with a weathervane. Aside from octagonal cupolas, other shapes for cupolas include circular, hexagonal, and square. Whether a cupola has a decorative purpose or is added to a roof for ventilation, most modern cupolas are wooden cupolas, vinyl cupolas, or metal cupolas, all with a copper roof. Wooden cupolas, in particular, can be made from cypress, birch, white pine, oak, or marine plywood.
Modern cupolas, regardless of whether they are vinyl or wooden cupolas, can either be installed with a kit that comes with the cupola or can be installed by the manufacturer, which is common for large, lookout tower cupolas. For all types of roof cupolas, the important parts of the cupola are the base, which attaches to the roof, the vents or windows, and the cap. Before purchasing a cupola, know the pitch of your roof, as the cupola will need to conform to this angle, which will be either six or twelve degrees.
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