My Hurricane-Inspired Tribute to The Mongrel Roof

This began as a GMT post - but it evolved beyond that while drinking some lemonade and catching myself up on the latest Irma variables. A handful of posts in that storm's dedicated thread (as well as many from prior storm "in-game" collective experiences) are by people who are facing the imminent destruction of something they've endeavored to manifest - A new home... custom built from the ground up and was unique in one or every way because it was determined by that individual/family while it was still just ink on paper.

That brought me to the one thing I know I know re: MY home should I ever decide to build where hurricanes tend to frequent. A thing I know thanks to seeing first-hand the aftermath of multiple major hurricanes over the years...

A well-constructed Mansard Roof is worth its weight in gold. And by gold I mean trees.



* My parents' place on the Northshore (Katrina)
* My uncle's "primary house" near Tampa (Wilma: 2005 Cat3) preceded by...
* My uncle's "other house" in Punta Gorda, FL (Charley: 2004 Cat4)
* A cousin's in Pensacola (Ivan: 2004 Cat3)
* A different cousin's in Chesapeake VA (Isabel: 2003 Strong Cat2)
* Many family friends in LA and MS (Andrew: 1992 Cat4)

My uncle lived in Florida most of his adult life and he dabbled in homebuilding among other things. He was a mansard roof stalwart and when my parents started planning their "dream house" in 1990 - he followed his brother's advice. So did Uncle B's line of the family when it came time to build.

My folks chose their collaborating architects and builders carefully. They invested in the bones of the the house, the roof in particular - and it paid off. It was pretty striking to behold. The gentleman my parents went with built 7 homes in the neighborhood over the years (of @300 homes - all custom built). There were AT LEAST 4 tornadoes that hit my parents' neighborhood during Katrina. Satellite aftermath images showed paths of 3 of them clearly. The damage was pretty much unilateral for most of our immediate neighbors and adjacent streets... but my parents' place - and those other 6... if you didn't know the common thread- you'd assume "Well they just got lucky."

There were houses with trees IN them... and houses with trees just kinda ON them...leaning. I shite you not. And I saw it over and over every time family went to help family.

So here's to an architectural unsung hero: The Mansard Roof

July 2005


September 2005


Please note:
- Yes it's a true Mansard - It's hard to see from the front but the angle does change above the eaves.

- The treeline behind the house in July and then September. Most of that was twisted together like wicker and leaning against the roof and the back of the house. Except for the Magnolia - That frickin' thing was just GONE. Nowhere in sight.


Also a tip of the cap to those steep-roof crew guys in a non-medal event: The shingling while rappelling biathlon



ETA:

Title adjusted