Steam Bent Shingles
also known as cedar shingle thatch roofs.
Shingle thatch or American thatch is the technique of using cedar shingles to recreate the texture and look of a reed-thatched roof. The shingles are bent along a curved framing support and roof edges, and laid in undulating, wavy courses. www.customshingles.com
American thatch home with carrot rake detail. A carrot rake or gable run is where the roof starts with a large diameter at the ridge, and tapers down, sometimes to a point, at the eave. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern. www.customshingles.com
Steamed and woven shingle roof and custom made doors and windows. This is a playhouse (large enough for adults) built by Robert Mahrer of RMGC, Inc. www.rmgcinc.com
Steam bent shingles, as above. Built by Robert Mahrer of RMGC, Inc. www.rmgcinc.com
False thatch roof with cedar shingles and mild wave coursing. www.customshingles.com
False thatch roof with cedar shingles and mild wave coursing. www.customshingles.com
Large rolled roof edge. Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern and rolled under at the eaves. www.customshingles.com
Rolling, undulating wave coursing.Large rolled roof edge. www.customshingles.com
Stacked roof edges on false thatch. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in an extreme wave pattern and rolled under at the eaves. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in an extreme wave pattern and rolled under at the eaves. Check out those chimneys! 
Steam bent cedar roof stained light gray in Japan. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern, with molded copper gutters. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent shingles rolled under eaves. Carmel Cottage. The roof edges are first framed with rounded edges, and then the shingles are steamed to fit the curve. Image by Linda Hartong. www.imagekind.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern and rolled under the large exaggerated eaves. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern and rolled under at the eaves. www.customshingles.com
Cottage roof with carrot rake detail. www.customshingles.com
Cedar roof stained light gray in Japan. www.customshingles.com
The roof is a two part system: curved framing is placed over a standard decked roof with a heavy base sheet then a framed lattice system is installed over that, allowing the wood shingles to breath.The roof will last three times as long.
Steam bent cedar roof in Connecticut with mild waving. www.customshingles.com
Steam bent shingles on an old home in Bridgeton, New Jersey. www.city-data.com
Storybook Cottage in Rhinebeck, NY.
For rent: www.storybook-cottage.net
Steam bent wooden shingles laid in a wave pattern and rolled under at the eaves. Long Beach, California. clarityofverity.blogspot.com
Hansel and Gretel Storybook Cottage a.k.a. the Spadena House, 1921, by set designer Henry Oliver, Beverly Hills, California. you-are-here.com
Cottage in Białka Tatrzańska, Tatra Mountains, Poland. Although not steam bent, the roofing is unique. www.flickr.com
Santarella barn in Tyringham, Massachusetts. In 1920, sculptor Sir Henry Hudson Kitson decided to turn the barn on his property into a studio and envisioned creating a rolling, thatched roof similar to the traditional thatched-roofs in his native Britain. He enlisted the help of several local farmers to grow a crop of rye for the thatching, but the crop went bad, and he turned to asphault shingles to create the effect he desired. Each tile was hand-cut to a wave-like shape and then was laid in thick layers of different-colored shingles. The whole project took three workers twelve years to complete.
www.santarella.us
Windamere Cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea. There are still local craftsmen in Carmel that do this type of roofing. Linda Hartong Photography. www.flickr.com
Learn More:
'Roofing' by Taunton Press: Excerpt: books.google.com
'Bungalow Details Exterior'
By Jane Powell, Linda Svendsen, Excerpt: books.google.com
Bernard Maybeck at Principia College: The Art and Craft of Building By Robert Michael Craig. Excerpt: books.google.com
'Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties' is the only book we know to be devoted entirely to storybook architecture. Written by Arrol Gellner and photographed by Douglas Keister, the book briefly details the history of the style, and contains many beautiful pictures. storybookers.com & www.amazon.com
An image of another beautiful old home with bent shingle roof in West Virginia called the Ricketts House can be found at the bottom of this pdf: www.wvculture.org.pdf
How to:
Bell shaped roof: www.jlconline.com
Soaking and Microwave: forums.finehomebuilding.com
A curved eave: www.chiefarchitect.com
Roofers:
Custom Cedar Solutions
Based in Florida but frequently build roofs in all the US states, Canada and the Caribbean. Have provided and installed hundreds of cottage roofs over the last 35 years. Brochure: issuu.com Watch their video here: www.youtube.com
www.customshingles.com
Craftsman Roofers, Inc
Colorado, will travel.
www.craftsmanroofer.com
Cost= Expensive! Similar in price to a slate roof.
Or - DIY --
Bend 'em with or against the grain. For: rounded eaves, rounded gables (or rakes), bay windows, bell towers, flaired roof edges, flaired side-walls, circular column walls, cupolas, domes, and geometric homes. www.custommade.com
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