Jeff Doubet shares how Genoese roof eaves detail and a “dog house” Spanish chimney are installed on a Spanish Colonial Revival roofing project in Montecito, CA. Often seen in high-end homes in France and Italy, these are architectural details the homeowner sought to recreate.
Installation tips for Decorative Génoise Roof Eave Detailing
Below you can see the infrastructure built for the Genoese detail. A notched shelf was installed during the wood framing stage of construction. Standard lumber was nailed on the flat, then weatherproofing and exterior stucco.
With the plaster eave shelf completed, the roofers plan the layout of the Génoise pattern. Red clay roof tiles are precut into 3 different lengths. They start on the bottom with the shortest pieces, then stack + adhere each piece with cement as they go. The roofers are fabricating a sample section that will be used as a visual prototype to be duplicated around the perimeter of the house.
Here the roofers are busy cementing a section of Génoise detail into place. You can see a completed row in the two story section above them. That row is also capped with the first row of starter tiles for the full barrel tiles of the actual roof.
Creating A Santa Barbara Spanish-style Gable Roof Detail
For gable sections of this home, another detail is being installed. It is a classic Santa Barbara Spanish Colonial Revival architectural detail commonly used throughout town. The roofers have installed the edge roof tiles prior to stucco detail.
This photo shows how a brown coat layer of stucco is being applied. Note how the plasterers are forming “shadow lines” in the plaster by aligning their stroke marks directly off each barrel roof tile. The forthcoming final coat of plaster will blend all into a seamless finish.
On the second story of the house you can see the completed Génoise detail in combination with the completed roof.
See and learn more about Plastering the Exterior of this Montecito Spanish Colonial Revival home. This photo shot through a pair of majestic oak trees- a view of the roofers as they continue to make progress on their work of art.
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Building a Spanish Colonial Revival Style Chimney
The Spanish Colonial Revival Chimney “Dog House” style structure starts as a chimney cap. Fabrication of a metal tray shroud covers the chimney framing “Box”. Once this new metal tray is formed, the seams are soldered for a lifetime of weatherproofing. The dog house portion of the chimney design is then steel stud framed on top of the tray. Then, the sides and top are infilled with sheet metal.
People are always curious how Spanish-style chimneys with tile roofs are made. Some roofing companies have their own metal forming shops. They know how to build the metal structure your architect specifies. The structure above will get additional weatherproofing, and have expanded metal attached so the exterior stucco will stick.
Special Techniques for Building A Spanish Colonial Revival style CHimney
Here are temporary plywood template guides the general contractor made for the chimney openings. The exterior plasterers use these when applying multiple layers of plaster to the chimney.
Scratch, brown and finish coats- These are a makeshift tool the plastering team use to stay true to the original chimney design.
ABOVE: the expert plasterer meets with the lead roofer. The photo shows how the roof eave is completely finished as an exterior plaster element that the Génoise detailing will be attached to.
More Design and Photo Resources for Building Custom Spanish Homes
A direct link for all of the other blog posts with Spanish-style chimney photos and info.
A direct link for a more in-depth look at how to install a Santa Barbara Spanish-style roof.
A direct link to see how the team of expert plasterers developed this Santa Barbara Mission Finish.