7 Classic Mediterranean Roof Styles

Traditionally, Mediterranean roof designs stress symmetry, low-pitched slopes, broad overhanging eaves, and heavy-red tiles. These elements helped to keep a home breezy and cool during hot temperatures, reflecting the easy and slow lifestyles found in the seaside towns during the Renaissance.

However, contemporary Mediterranean roof styles showcase a more comprehensive range of rooflines, colors, shapes, and overhangs while still maintaining the classic Mediterranean roof appeal.

Mediterranean Roof Styles

1. Mediterranean Revival with a Dutch Gable Roof

Built in the early twentieth century, the classic symmetry of this Mediterranean revival brick home includes a dutch gable roof, combining a solid mix of hip and gable roof lines. On the soffits of the deep overhangs of all the rooflines, white moldings highlight and enhance the beautiful red barrel clay tiles. A windowed gablet on top of the roof provides extra attic space, providing sunlight to the home. A simple gable roof with decorative white trim covers the charming entryway. A decorative accent piece tops the entryway’s roof’s peak, matching the one on the gablet; they draw your eyes upward, welcoming guests to the home.

2. Spanish Mediterranean with Combination Rooflines

Spanish Mediterranean style originated during the early Spanish colonization of North and South America. Often seen in Florida, California, and throughout the Southwest, the unique exterior style includes arched windows and walls finished with white, cream, or beige stucco.

The distinct roof design of this historic Spanish Mediterranean home showcases a combination roof, crowned with a bell tower, all covered with red-clay-barrel tiles, giving the property architectural interest and character. The roofline gradually slopes up, from the single-story sunroom with a gable roof and small overhangs to the two-step second stories, each topped with a shallow Mansard style roofing around the flat roofs. Finally, a bell tower with a hip roof provides a focal point, adding grandeur and balance to the classic-asymmetrical Mediterranean home.

3. A Modern Mediterranean Home with Synthetic Barrel Roofing Tiles

Architects of this modern Mediterranean-style home used warm-earth colors, arched windows, and a low-pitched gable roof with dormers to add character to the house's aesthetic appeal. The roof and dormers display dark-brown-red Brava composite Spanish roofing tiles, shaped to mimic Spanish clay tiles' simple, one-piece barrel design, creating the distinctive ripples (S-shape) across a classic Mediterranean roof.

Brava’s Composite Spanish Roofing Tiles

In addition to aesthetic beauty, Brava composite barrel tiles provide several other significant benefits:

They stand out as the only composite Spanish tile on the market that is 3rd-party tested, and Miami-Dade County approved.
Environmentally friendly Class C tiles are the only white composite tile on the market.
The revolutionary multi-coloring process creates non-fading roof colors with authentic color variation and flows (in any custom color or combination).
The synthetic roofing tiles install quickly, easily, and successfully, without the installation problems found with clay tile. In addition, the lightweight products lessen shipping costs and reduce installation costs by eliminating the need for more structural support.
They are backed by a 50-year limited warranty, have undergone extensive testing, and have 3rd-party certifications for the highest fire, wind, and hail levels. Moreover, flexible and impact-resistant Brava synthetic-roof tiles permit (without damage) foot traffic, during and after installation, unlike barrel clay tiles.
Their eco-friendly roofing tiles are made with recycled and recyclable products and save the energy needed to extract clay.

4. Modern Mediterranean Flat Roof Style

A less ornate example of a classic Mediterranean-style home, this contemporary-asymmetrical house puts a modern spin on a medieval castle. The simplicity of its clean-lined shapes and orange-yellow stucco facade give it a unique elegance, while the balconies create an easy transition between the indoors and outdoors. Furthermore, the building’s design includes four different flat roofs, each with short overhangs and covered in red barrel tile. The four roofs seem to climb towards the bell tower, topped with a red-barrel tiled hip roof, invoking a sense of upward mobility.

5. Classic Mediterranean with Hip Roof

A Classic Mediterranean house with a red barrel hip roof features a center-placed arched roof window as a focal point, enhancing the home's height. The roof features wide, overhanging eaves with large white brackets, highlighting and contrasting the beautiful, red-barrel roof from the neutral-tan brick facade. Like many Italian-influenced Mediterranean-style homes, the front porch contains wide columns spanned by arches, drawing visitors into the house.

6. Small Mediterranean-style Building with a Low-Sloped-Hip Roof

A modest Mediterranean-style building displays a symmetrical, cream-colored stucco facade with two sets of identical, white-framed, clean-line windows. Red barrel tiles tip the building's low-slope hip roof and open front porch's gable roof, adding to the simple aesthetics of this traditional Mediterranean-style structure.

7. Contemporary Mediterranean Home with Flat and Hip Rooflines

For this contemporary Mediterranean house, homeowners choose a stone facade and vast outdoor spaces, from the rooftop porch to the stone-pillared covered seating areas, designs aimed to merge the outdoors with the indoors. Architects choose white-barreled roofing to de-emphasize the low-sloping hip roof of the home, along with the porch coverings, bringing attention to the beautiful stonework.

Brava’s Composite Spanish Tiles Fit the Needs of All Mediterranean Roof Styles

Brava Tile Roofing Products makes the best roofing product for all Mediterranean roof styles, from modern to historic, Spanish, or Italian. Lightweight tiles mimic traditional clay barrel tiles, and they protect against color fading, impact, moisture, and structural damage. These protections also help protect the underlayment, which reduces its need for replacement. Brava has a 50-year warranty on underlayment.