Late 19 th century americans were enamored of all things french and they wanted to spend newly minted post civil war.
Queen anne mansurd roof.
Such a house is still a queen anne not a second empire.
A staple of queen anne victorian architecture these conical towers were topped with dunce cap roofs that are too steep to be walked on.
Following the philadelphia exposition of 1876 and publication of mail order architectural plan books the victorian queen anne style 1880 1910 spread across the country.
And have the iron trim as a mansard roof would have.
And the queen anne turret on the other corner of the mane facade.
A mansard roof in opposition to a salt box offers the utility of a full half room on the upper floor rather than an attic.
The house should have a french hip roof rather than a mansard roof but it can still be flat topped.
Roofs often rather steeply pitched were as complex as the rest of the building with multiple intersecting gables and protected balconies bay windows and a tower or turret.
The distinctive steep mansard roof is a distinguishing characteristic of second empire style historic house colors for some reason second empire style 1855 to 1885 became a popular choice for haunted houses in movies and tv including the tv home of the munsters.
In the same way many stick style houses have mansard roofs but they are not second empire because it is the stick style features that dominate the design.
It features tow pitches one a shallow pitch atop a steeper slope.
You might for example have a queen anne house with a gabled main roof and a mansard roofed tower.