When driving around some of the historic neighborhoods of Minneapolis, you might notice a unique roof on some of the homes. Rolled roofs at the eave are seen mostly around the Lake of the Isle area. The style is known as Cotswold Cottage and is designed to replicate thatch. It is an expensive roof to apply to your home, as special eaves must be constructed to support the roll over the roof line. In my opinion, this roof option should only be used on a Tudor style home, however I have seen it pushed onto a newer home with French design and it didn’t look to good to me.

Two basic materials are used the most.

1) For a more authentic look, only cedar shakes should be used. The first home has cedar tiles and you can see by the closeup just how many tiles are placed on the roof. The pattern varies and is very time consuming, but the roof will last you a long time. The home really looks like a cottage out of Hansel and Gretel.

2) A cheaper way to employ the style is to use common place asphalt shingles. It gives the same affect from a distance, but to me is less pleasing to the eye closeup. It too will last you awhile, 20-40 years, and is cheaper to apply as the only real cost comes from the eave roll.

In a quick Google search, I found one local builder who advertises he does the replicated thatch roof, but I am sure there are others out there that also offer the style. If you are looking to replace your current roof with an architectural roof like thatch, make sure to call several roofing contractors and get detailed quotes, time to construct, etc. With it being more expensive to build, you want to make sure you get something that is priced well, but also high quality too!