Hip roof design

Hip Roof Design: See a Hip Roof on Your House

A hip roof slopes down to the eaves on all four sides, so the house has no tall triangular gable walls at the ends. People search for hip roof designs when they plan a new house, add a roof to a flat-roofed one or compare a hip with a gable before talking to a builder. This AI hip roof design tool starts from a picture: upload a photo of your house or plot, a sketch or a clay model, and ArchitecturesAI renders it in the same view; then describe the roof, the tiles and the eaves in a sentence. The result is an idea picture of the outside. It is not a roof plan, a structural design or a quote.

Upload your house photo or sketch

Sign in with Google or email to render. New accounts get 2 free renders (watermarked); free renders are not available in India on this site.

An empty flat grassy lot between two grey houses, with a young tree, a sidewalk and a street in front — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of an empty lot, not a real site. Edit prompt used: "Build a new two-storey house on this lot with a hip roof: the roof slopes down on all four sides with no gable ends, in charcoal shingles, white lap siding, black framed windows, a covered entry with a small hip roof over the front door and a driveway to the street. Keep the neighbouring houses, the tree, the sidewalk, the street and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: a two-storey house with a hipped roof in charcoal shingles, white lap siding, black framed windows, a roof over the front entry and a driveway; the neighbouring houses, the tree, the sidewalk and the street stayed. What differs from the prompt: the right-hand part of the roof ends in a front-facing gable, so it is not hipped on every side; the entry roof runs across the whole front like a porch roof, not only over the door; and the young tree now stands right in front of the house. Added without being asked: black shutters on the upper windows. We ran this one once.

The same lot with a new two-storey house in white lap siding, a charcoal hipped roof with one front-facing gable on the right, black windows and shutters, a lower roof across the front over the entry and a driveway on the right — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of an empty lot, not a real site. Edit prompt used: "Build a new two-storey house on this lot with a hip roof: the roof slopes down on all four sides with no gable ends, in charcoal shingles, white lap siding, black framed windows, a covered entry with a small hip roof over the front door and a driveway to the street. Keep the neighbouring houses, the tree, the sidewalk, the street and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: a two-storey house with a hipped roof in charcoal shingles, white lap siding, black framed windows, a roof over the front entry and a driveway; the neighbouring houses, the tree, the sidewalk and the street stayed. What differs from the prompt: the right-hand part of the roof ends in a front-facing gable, so it is not hipped on every side; the entry roof runs across the whole front like a porch roof, not only over the door; and the young tree now stands right in front of the house. Added without being asked: black shutters on the upper windows. We ran this one once.

What a hip roof is

Roofing guides and the hip roof galleries on Houzz describe the same shape and the same trade-offs:

Every side of the roof slopes down to the eaves, so all the walls end at the same height and there are no gable walls.
A plain hip roof on a rectangular house has a short ridge in the middle; on a square plan the four slopes can meet at a point (a pyramid roof).
L-shaped and T-shaped houses get a cross hip, where two hip roofs meet in a valley.
The eaves run all the way round, which shades the walls and sends rain away from every side.
The usual trade-off: less loft space than a gable roof and more complex framing, which a builder will price.

How to try a hip roof design with ArchitecturesAI

In the editor above, the mode is Render Architecture, the type is Residential and the style is Traditional. This mode has no prompt box: you start from an image.
Under Select Image, upload a JPG or PNG: a daylight photo of your house taken from the street, with the whole roof in view, or a sketch, a clay model or a screenshot from your 3D software.
Click Generate. Free accounts can only use Low quality (Medium and High are marked PRO). Sign in with Google or email when asked.
To steer the result, click Edit Image on it (the box is called Edit Instructions) or use Custom Action, and describe the roof shape, the slope, the tiles or shingles and the eaves and what must stay the same. Each edit is another render and uses credits. Run it a few times, since every result differs.
The three examples below ran directly on our image model with the written instructions shown. They did not go through the editor above, so your own results will differ.

Upload your house photo or sketch

A hip roof on a new house

If you are building on an empty plot, start from a photo of it. The roof came out hipped with one front gable; that, the entry roof and the tree position are listed in the caption.

A hip roof from a sketch or on a flat-roofed house

A sketch or a plain flat-roofed bungalow can both carry a new hip roof. In both examples the model also changed things it was not asked to, noted in the captions.

A black pencil line sketch of a small single-storey bungalow with a pitched roof, two front windows, a side window and a front door with a step — Both images are AI-generated with our own image model. The sketch is an AI-drawn stand-in for a hand sketch, not a real drawing. Edit prompt used: "Turn this line sketch into a realistic daylight photo of the same bungalow: dark grey concrete roof tiles, white rendered walls, black window frames, a timber front door, a lawn and a low hedge, blue sky. Keep the house shape, the hip roof, the windows, the door and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: dark grey concrete roof tiles, white rendered walls, black window frames, a timber front door, a lawn and a low hedge; the size of the house, the windows, the door and the step stayed as drawn. What differs from the prompt: the sketch draws the front as a flat triangle, and the render turned that triangle into a sloping roof face, so the roof is more hipped than the drawing. Added without being asked: a neighbouring house behind and a shrub in the foreground. This is our second attempt: the first sketch drew a bungalow with front gables and the render kept them, so we made a new "before" and ran it again. The pair shown is the second run.

A photo-like render of the same bungalow with white rendered walls, a dark grey tiled roof that slopes down at the front as well as the sides, black window frames, a timber front door, a lawn and a hedge — Both images are AI-generated with our own image model. The sketch is an AI-drawn stand-in for a hand sketch, not a real drawing. Edit prompt used: "Turn this line sketch into a realistic daylight photo of the same bungalow: dark grey concrete roof tiles, white rendered walls, black window frames, a timber front door, a lawn and a low hedge, blue sky. Keep the house shape, the hip roof, the windows, the door and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: dark grey concrete roof tiles, white rendered walls, black window frames, a timber front door, a lawn and a low hedge; the size of the house, the windows, the door and the step stayed as drawn. What differs from the prompt: the sketch draws the front as a flat triangle, and the render turned that triangle into a sloping roof face, so the roof is more hipped than the drawing. Added without being asked: a neighbouring house behind and a shrub in the foreground. This is our second attempt: the first sketch drew a bungalow with front gables and the render kept them, so we made a new "before" and ran it again. The pair shown is the second run.

A plain single-storey white rendered bungalow with a flat roof and a thin parapet, black framed windows, a front door, a lawn and a gravel path — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of a flat-roofed bungalow, not a real house. Edit prompt used: "Add a hip roof on top of this bungalow: four sloping roof faces in dark grey concrete tiles rising from all four walls to a short ridge in the middle, with eaves overhanging every wall and no gable walls at all. Keep the walls, the windows, the door, the lawn, the path and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: four sloping faces in dark grey tiles rising from all the walls, with eaves overhanging the walls and no gable walls; the walls, the windows, the door, the lawn and the path stayed. What differs from the prompt: the ridge is hard to see from this angle, so the roof reads mostly as two long slopes and the hipped ends. Added without being asked: a small gabled dormer window at the left end of the roof. This is our third try at this idea: twice we asked the model to turn a gable roof on a brick bungalow into a hip roof and twice it left the gables as they were, so we started from a flat-roofed bungalow instead. The pair shown is the third run.

The same bungalow with a new dark grey tiled hip roof that slopes down over every wall with overhanging eaves, the same white walls, black windows, door, lawn and path — An AI-generated pair made with our own image model. The "before" is an AI-drawn stand-in for a photo of a flat-roofed bungalow, not a real house. Edit prompt used: "Add a hip roof on top of this bungalow: four sloping roof faces in dark grey concrete tiles rising from all four walls to a short ridge in the middle, with eaves overhanging every wall and no gable walls at all. Keep the walls, the windows, the door, the lawn, the path and the camera angle exactly the same." What followed it: four sloping faces in dark grey tiles rising from all the walls, with eaves overhanging the walls and no gable walls; the walls, the windows, the door, the lawn and the path stayed. What differs from the prompt: the ridge is hard to see from this angle, so the roof reads mostly as two long slopes and the hipped ends. Added without being asked: a small gabled dormer window at the left end of the roof. This is our third try at this idea: twice we asked the model to turn a gable roof on a brick bungalow into a hip roof and twice it left the gables as they were, so we started from a flat-roofed bungalow instead. The pair shown is the third run.

What the AI keeps and what it may change

Usually kept: the camera angle, the walls, the windows, the doors and the setting.
Often different from what you asked: how far the eaves overhang, whether the ends are fully hipped and where small roofs go.
Hard for the model: turning an existing gable roof into a hip roof. In our tests it left the gables in place, so a flat-roofed or new house works better.
Often added without being asked: dormers, shutters and plants.
Never produced: floor plans, structure, cost estimates or approval drawings.

Comparing roof shapes?

The gable roof page shows the other common pitched roof, the roof design page covers roof materials and colours, and the flat roof house page covers flat roofs. Dormers have their own page too.

Free tier and plans

You need a free account to render. New accounts get 2 free renders, and free renders carry a watermark. In India this site does not include free renders, so a paid plan is needed there. Weekly, monthly and yearly plans for more renders without the watermark are on the pricing page.

The plot, the sketch and the bungalow on this page are AI-drawn stand-ins, not real. Each example was run directly on the model, not through the tool above.

Frequently asked questions

What is a hip roof?

A roof that slopes down to the eaves on all four sides, with no vertical triangular gable walls at the ends. On a rectangular house it has a short ridge in the middle.

Hip roof or gable roof: which should I choose?

A gable roof is simpler to build and gives more loft space; a hip roof has eaves on every side and is often chosen for windy areas. The picture here only shows how each looks on your house; a builder or engineer decides what suits your site.

Is there a text box in the editor?

The prompt box exists only in Architecture Generator mode. The editor above opens in Render Architecture, where you upload an image and change the result with Edit Image (Edit Instructions) or Custom Action.

Can it change my gable roof into a hip roof?

You can ask for it with Edit Image, but in our tests the model kept the existing gables. Starting from a flat-roofed house, a plot or a sketch gave clearer hip roofs.

Is it free to try?

Yes. After you sign in, a new account gets 2 free renders with a watermark, in Low quality. In India this site does not include free renders. Paid weekly, monthly and yearly plans are listed on the pricing page.

See a hip roof on your house

Upload a photo of your house, your plot or your sketch, compare a few hip roof versions, and take the best one to your builder. Your first 2 renders on a free account are on us.

Upload your house photo or sketch