|Look up gable in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.| A gable is
the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of
a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed
depends on the structural system being used (which is often
related to climate and availability of materials) and aesthetic
concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates
the shape of the gable. A gable wall or gable end more commonly
refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall
below it. A variation of the gable is a crow-stepped gable,
which has a stair-step design to accomplish the sloping portion.
Crow-stepped gables were used in Scotland and England as early
as the seventeenth century. Examples of the crow-stepped gable
can be seen at Muchalls Castle and Monboddo House, both 17th
century Scottish buildings. Other early examples are found in
parts of Denmark and Sweden. Gable ends of more recent buildings
are often treated in the same way as the Classic pediment form.
But unlike Classical s