Eave returns

Commonly seen on American architecture of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, the eave return or cornice return serves to aesthetically elevate a building’s façade and to convey a message about the building’s function or perhaps about the people who made their home there.

The roof eave is simply the bottom part of the roof that projects over the outside wall or façade of the building. If the eave has decorative moulding on its edge, it’s called a cornice. Functionally, an eave or cornice helps to shed rain away from the wall and protect the building’s fabric.

When the eave or cornice continues around the building to the front façade where the main entry is, the resulting feature is called a cornice return or eave return. Eave returns extend towards the front door for a short distance on either side of the gable facade (the façade that sits underneath the “v” shape made by a gable roof). Because eave returns and cornice returns do not extend across the entire wall, their functional protection of the building’s fabric is limited. They mainly serve as decoration, connoting the wealth of the residing family or the civic distinction of the building itself.

When a cornice return extends across the entire length of the gable end of the building, it forms part of the entablature, which includes the cornice, the frieze, and the architrave. This feature is commonly seen on Greco-Roman architecture and on more modern styles including Greek Revival and Colonial Revival.

The image shows the schoolhouse and Masonic Lodge Hall in Bannack State Park, a building that exhibits quite prominent cornice returns. Stylistically, the 1874 building displays traits of both the Greek Revival and Colonial Revival styles, and exemplifies the transitional vernacular architecture scattered across the American frontier in the late 1800s.

#mtshpo #mthist #historicpreservation #vernaculararchitecture #bannackstatepark #bannackmontana #bannackghosttown