widow's walk

A widow's walk in Gaithersburg, MD

A widow's walk (or roofwalk) is a railed rooftop platform often with a small enclosed cupola often found on 19th century North American houses. A popular romantic myth holds that the platform was used to observe vessels at sea. The name comes from the wives of mariners, who would watch for their spouses' return, often in vain as the ocean took the lives of the mariners, leaving the women as widows.^[1]

However, there is little or no evidence that widow's walks were intended or regularly used for this purpose. Widow's walks are in fact a standard decorative feature of Italianate architecture, which was very popular during the height of the Age of Sail in many North American coastal communities. The widow's walk is a variation of the Italinate cupola.^[2] The Italianate cupola, also known as a "belvedere", was an important ornate finish to this style, although it was often high maintenance and prone to leaks.^[3]

A widow's walk on a home overlooking a harbor in Massachusetts.

Beyond their use as viewing platforms, they are frequently built around the chimney of the residence, thus creating an easy access route to the structure. This allows the residents of the home to pour sand down burning chimneys in the event of a chimney fire in the hope of preventing the house from burning down.^[4][5]

In popular culture

The Gothic appeal of the widow's walk legend has produced many references in books, film and television. A recent example was referenced in the television show Mad Men by the character Pete Campbell in the episode "Maidenform".

References

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