A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a step pattern above the roof as a decoration and as a convenient way to finish the brick courses. A stepped parapet may appear on building facades with or without gable ends, and even upon a false front.
Crow-stepped gable on a house in Lüneburg, Germany
Buildings in Bruges, Belgium, with crow-stepped gables
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesthetic concerns. The term gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it. Some types of roof do not have a gable. One common type of roof with gables, the 'gable roof', is named after its prominent gables.
A single-story house with three gables, although only two can be seen (highlighted in yellow). This arrangement is a crossed gable roof
Gable in Finland
Decorative gable roof at 176–178 St. John's Place between Sixth and Seventh Avenue in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City.
Front-gabled buildings in Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany