High-Peaked Colonial Revival

2014 Woolsey St.
(photo: Daniella Thompson, 2005)

What does one call those strange steep-roofed houses that dot South and West Berkeley? This intriguing style, at various times named High-Peaked Roof Dutch Colonial, Eastern Shingle Cottage, or simply “Steep Roof,” deserves further investigation.

Berkeley boasts some fine examples of the genre, and many more that have been adulterated to various degrees at various times. Sadly, even recent restorations, while often careful in every other respect, usually compromise when it comes to windows and doors. Inappropriate aluminum windows with fake muntins are the order of the day.

For the past month or so I’ve been roving through Berkeley’s streets and photographing the high peaks. The first six pages of a photo essay on these houses are published in our Essays & Stories section.