The Metal Roofers

Set on a small hillside under mature trees, the house uses a simple Middle Tennessee palette. Red brick holds the ground. Cream stucco panels keep the upper story light. Dark trim lines mark the gables and windows so the front reads calm from the street. We finished the composition with a bronze standing-seam roof and a matching chimney cap sized and fabricated for this chimney. The whole thing feels settled and clear.

Setting & Architecture

Tennessee’s familiar Tudor language is all here, half-timbering above, honest brick below—but the massing stays compact and comfortable. Deep overhangs shade the walls and soften the steep gables; broad window bands stretch across the front so living spaces look easily onto the gravel drive, clipped shrubs, and the small garden outbuilding at the tree line. The facade reads in two measured layers of color and texture: butter-cream stucco between crisp, dark timbers above; brick laid in steady courses below. Mature maples frame the elevation and temper the sun, so the house holds a steady, cool expression through long summers. From the side yard, the home opens to a longer view, tree canopies in the foreground, the faint lift of the Cumberlands beyond, giving a modest footprint an unexpectedly generous outlook. The palette is restrained, the detailing careful, and the proportions quietly confident; nothing shouts, which is why the whole feels effortless.

Roof & Detailing

Crowning the composition is a bronze standing-seam roof. Even, crisp ribs pick up the cadence of the timber framing; their precision is what keeps the architecture calm. The factory-finished bronze reads warm in sun and deep in overcast, pairing naturally with the trim and never overpowering the brick below. At the chimney we fabricated a matching bronze cap and wrapped the existing stack down to the flashing so the masonry now appears to grow out of the roof rather than perch on it. Clean hemmed eaves, tight valleys, and measured rake lines give the silhouette a tailored edge; the ridge remains restrained so the profile stays crisp from any approach. In a storm the panels shed water in quick, orderly paths; on clear days the low-gloss finish reflects just enough sky to stay lively without glare. It’s traditional materiality finished with contemporary discipline, an upgrade that looks inevitable, as if the house was always meant to wear bronze.

Why This Architecture Works in Nashville

"Nashville calls itself the Athens of the South, and that taste for old-world craft shows up in our streets. When the city spread in the 1920s and 1930s, Tudor Revival fit right in across Belmont-Hillsboro, East Nashville, and Belle Meade. The recipe was simple and local. Brick for the base because brick was everywhere. Half-timbered upper walls for texture and shadow. Steep front gables that give a clear outline among big hardwoods. A tall chimney as the anchor so the house reads solid from the curb. Slight asymmetry keeps it from looking like a kit, and grouped windows flatten the facade just enough to feel calm and lived-in. This home carries that Nashville version forward without costume. Brick holds the ground, cream panels sit between dark trim, and the gables rise clean so the forms read first and the details follow. The bronze standing seam roof plays the part that slate and lead once did on Tudors here. It outlines the geometry, warms up next to the brick, and lets the chimney stand proud as the spine of the elevation. The custom bronze cap and wrap are a quiet nod to the old metalwork you see around Centennial Park and the older neighborhoods, but the lines are cleaner and more exact. Classic Tudor cues, Middle Tennessee attitude, and a finish that feels right at home."