Cupolas

A cupola is a small - or sometimes large - structure on the top of a roof.

Cupolas can be nearly any shape including square, rectangular, or dome shaped. They appear on the tops of a wide variety of structures including houses, churches, garden gazebos, barns, or the caboose of a freight train.

Vinyl cupola in a square shape with copper roof. From Amazon.

Vinyl cupola with a wood roof. From Amazon.

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From eBay, Amazon and Etsy

See more cupolas on eBay

See more cupolas on Amazon

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About Cupolas

Cupolas can be purely decorative or highly functional: Uses for large cupolas include a look-out vantage point, belfries, or to house a light; smaller cupolas are often useful as a way to exchange light and air. On barns, cupolas are often topped by weathervanes.

Below: Two large cupolas on top of a church.

Cupolas are beautiful additions to your home or barn. Contrary to what some people might believe they are often purchased and added to a building after it has been completed, as opposed to being "built in" to the building during initial construction.

Below: A cupola on top of a horse barn. This cupola is not only decorative, it acts as a vent to help exchange air.

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A Little Cupola History

Cupolas have been seen in architecture in the United States since at least the days following the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). As far as our research could find out, the most common speculation is that the American cupola was influenced the the architecture of the Spanish, who in turn were influenced the by Moors, who were probably influenced by cupolas in the Middle East.

Regardless of who influenced whom, cupolas have been seen in the United States since at least the 1700s. They are very popular for practical purposes (as air vents, look-out posts, and/or a source of light) as well as for ornate and decorative purposes. The dome-shaped cupola on top of the United States Capital building is perhaps the best-known cupola in the US. Many individual state capitols are also topped by cupolas.

Below: Two cupolas, one with a weathervane, on a barn.

 

Below: A couple of cupolas on a large, two-story barn.

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Save The Cupola For Later

If you find a cupola for sale on Etsy that you like but you're not ready to purchase right away, you can always add it to your shopping cart so it will be easy to find later.

• In most cases, Etsy will keep track of your cupola, and anything else in your shopping cart, for 30 days.
• In the meantime, if you want to check out with other items you can click on "Save for later" to move them to a separate, but still easy-to-find list beneath your shopping cart.
• If you put items into your Etsy shopping cart but don't check out after 30 days, Etsy will automatically move them to the "Save for later" area beneath your shopping cart. When you're ready to actually purchase any of these items, simply click "Move to cart" to put them back into your shopping cart and check out.

Important: Putting items in your Etsy shopping cart or "Save for later" list does NOT reserve them! It just makes them easier to find if they're still available when you come back.

Below: Screenshot image showing the "Save for later" and "Remove" links when an item is in the Etsy shopping cart.