A leugenaar is a transverse roof: a small roof plane set at right angles to the main roof, usually on the street side of a house. It exists to hide the actual roof from view, so that a cornice facade or bell gable can be built at the front instead of a gable end.
The Dutch name says it plainly: leugenaar means “liar” — the structure lies. From street level the house looks taller and differently built than it is. Walking along the canal at eye level you see a horizontal cornice and assume there is an extra storey, while behind it an ordinary pitched roof simply carries on.
Why was it built?
Dutch town houses traditionally had their ridge running at right angles to the street: a narrow house presenting a gable to the front. When the cornice facade — a facade with a straight horizontal top — came into fashion in the late seventeenth and especially the eighteenth century, that fashion collided with the existing roof form. The solution was the leugenaar: a small roof plane across the main roof, with its ridge parallel to the street.
Behind the new front facade the old roof could simply stay. On existing houses the leugenaar was therefore often added later during a facade rebuild; it is one reason why many canal houses are older inside than their frontage suggests.
Construction
- The leugenaar sits at right angles to the main roof and so forms a valley where the two planes meet.
- In that valley runs a concealed or valley gutter, which has to carry the water off both planes.
- An extra beam was often introduced to support the truss behind it, because the original bearing was lost in the alteration.
Points to watch in restoration and maintenance
- The valley is the weak point. A concealed gutter behind a cornice facade is narrow, hard to reach and fills quickly with leaf litter. A leak there often only becomes visible indoors once the timber of the beam ends is already damaged. Plan periodic inspection and provide a hatch or a safe working position.
- Check the beam ends. In a leugenaar in particular, beam ends sit close to the wet zone of the gutter. Probe them for soft spots when inspecting.
- The front facade often carries little load. A cornice facade in front of a leugenaar is partly a screen wall that mainly takes wind load. Wall anchors and the connection to the floor plates are then structurally essential — never remove them casually during alterations.
- Listed status. Many houses with a leugenaar are protected monuments. Changes to roof, gutter or facade then need consent; discuss the work with the authority in advance.
- Do not confuse it with a false roof. A leugenaar is a real, weathertight roof structure; a false roof is a purely decorative screen with no space behind it.
Related terms
- Bell gable
- Gable roof
- Valley gutter
- Concealed gutter
- Cornice
- Dormer
- Purlin roof
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