Gable Dormer

Pick the Gable Dormer if you want maximum architectural impact — the peaked dormer projecting from the roof gives the building a real "miniature house" silhouette that looks at home next to traditional or farmhouse-style homes. Pick the Transom Dormer if you want maximum interior daylight — its horizontal window band lets in roughly 3× the light. The Gable Dormer also gives you slightly more usable loft headroom directly beneath the dormer (roughly 6 ft of standing room in the dormer pocket vs. 4–5 in the Transom).

Three reasons: (1) the dormer breaks up an otherwise plain roof and dramatically improves curb appeal — this is the most photogenic shed in the lineup; (2) the dormer creates a small standing-height pocket on the loft level that you can’t get on an A-Frame Workshop; (3) the dormer window adds natural light high on the gable wall where a standard sidewall window can’t reach. The tradeoff is price — a 12×16 Gable Dormer ($6,635 in LP SmartSide) runs about $1,400 more than the comparable Workshop. Worth it if architectural appeal matters to you.

10×16 (starting at $5,910 in LP SmartSide) is the favorite — it’s right-sized for the dormer to look proportional on the front facade and works great as both a presentable storage shed or a light studio. 12×20 ($7,255) is for buyers who want a real second use case under the dormer pocket (reading nook, kid’s playroom area, sleeping loft on Airbnb backyard cabins). Below 10×16 the dormer can start to look slightly chunky relative to the building.

Directly under the dormer pocket on a 12×16 you get roughly 6 feet of standing-headroom space about 5–6 feet wide and 4–5 feet deep — enough to set up a twin air mattress, a beanbag chair, or a small reading desk. Outside the dormer pocket, the rest of the loft drops back to standard A-Frame loft headroom (3–4 ft, storage only). The dormer pocket is the model’s killer feature — it’s the only A-Frame shed where you get a real usable second-floor zone without going to a Hi-Wall Barn or Portable Two Story.

Yes through 12×40 — the Gable Dormer ships fully assembled from our Parkesburg, PA shop on a low-profile mule trailer. The dormer adds height during transit (roughly 13’6" tall vs. 12’6" for a flat-roof shed of equivalent footprint), so we always confirm low-hanging branches and overhead wires on the access route during the quote stage. 14-wide Gable Dormers (14×16–14×48) ship as a panelized kit for on-site assembly over 1–2 days.

Same threshold as any other shed: most townships in PA, NJ, DE, and MD allow under 200 sq ft (10×20 or smaller) without a building permit; setbacks still apply. The Gable Dormer starts at 8×12 (96 sq ft) and goes to 14×48, so the smaller end is permit-free in most jurisdictions. The peaked-dormer roofline can occasionally trigger HOA architectural review where a flat-roof Mini Barn would slide through. Worth a quick call to your zoning office and HOA before ordering, especially for buyers placing the building near the street.