gable with name

clark, george

George Clark Barn

miller

Miller Farm

weeks

Weeks Barn

 

The earliest and simplest roof type is the gable.  The gable roof, also referred to as a saddle or ridge roof, consists of a straightforward two-plane form.  Very early gable roofs have a steep pitch, 45 to 55 degrees, necessitated by the traditional use of thatching which required such a pitch to effectively shed precipitation.  Thatching did not remain a popular building material in North America due to the abundance of wood for planks and shingles and, slowly, the gable roof began to widen (Allen Noble and Richard Cleek, The Old Barn Book).

The gable roof type, along with the Dutch gambrel, is the most popular barn style in Spokane County.  There are nine listed barns that were built with the gable roof in the county, Henry Allice Farm, the Champion Barn, the George Clark Barn, the Finn-Beaven Barn, Koch Farm, Miller Farm, Palmer Farm, Red Barn Farm and the Weeks Barn.