Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Dormer
A roofed atic window
Origin: French: dormir: to sleepDormer windows have been used in domestic architecture in Britain since the 16th century.
Dormer windows were popularized by French architect François Mansart, who used dormers extensively in the mansard roofs he designed for 17th-century Paris
Hipped: Hipped dormers are found, for example, in Prairie, Shingle styles
Gabled: Gabled dormers are found in Arts & Crafts, Colonial Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Stick, Tudor Revival styles. Sometimes called dog-house dormer.
Clipped gable/jerkinhead dormer
Shed: Shed dormers are found, for example, in Arts & Crafts, Colonial Revival styles
Arched: Arched top dormers are found, for example, in Second Empire, Beaux Arts Classical styles
Round: Round or oval dormers are found, for example, in Beaux Arts Classical style
Oval: Round or oval dormers are found, for example, in Beaux Arts Classical style
Pedimented: Pedimented dormers are found, for example, in Colonial Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival styles
Eyebrow: Eyebrow dormers are found, for example, in Richardsonian Romanesque, Shingle styles
Through-the-cornice: Through-the-cornice dormer are found, for example, in Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Neoclassical, Second Empire styles
Lucarne: A small dormer window in a roof or spire
Examples from Buffalo architecture:
- Illustration above: Charles W. Goodyear House - arched
- Watson House - Buffalo Club - pedimented
- Coatsworth House - pedimented
- Chillion M. Farrar House - pedimented
- 1109 Delaware Avenue - pedimented
- ScheideMantel House - shed
- Engine #15 Fire Station - pedimented
- Alexander Main Curtiss House, 780 West Ferry St. - pedimented
- E. F. Hall Office and Residence
Other examples:
- Photo: Baroque dormer - Melk Abbey, Melk, Austria
- Fontainebleau Palace, France - pedimented
- Prague Old Town Hall, Czech Republic - arched