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R

rafter:  A sloping beam that supports a roof.
rake:  A board or molding placed along the sloping sides of a frame gable to cover the ends of the siding.
raking cornice:  Either of two straight, sloping cornices on a pediment following or suggesting the slopes of a roof.
rampart: A defensive stone or earth wall surrounding castle or town.
Raised ranch (split level) style: A traditional Ranch Style house is only one story, but a split level, "Raised Ranch" house has room to grow. A finished basement with large windows creates extra living space below, while a raised roof leaves room for bedrooms above.
Ranch style: The rambling, no-nonsense Ranch styles became dominant in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. If you live in the suburbs, there's a good chance your home is a Western Ranch, American Ranch, or California Rambler.
relief:  Moldings of ornamentation projecting from the surface of a wall.
Renaissance:  Styles existing in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; adaptations of ancient Roman elements to contemporary uses, with attention to the principles of Vitruvius and to existing ruins.  Symmetry, simplicity,  and exact mathematical relationships are emphasized.
Renaissance Revival style: A fascination for the architecture of Renaissance Europe inspired these elegant homes and villas.
rib:  An arch of masonry, often molded, which forms part of the framework on which a vault rests.  Ribs generally project from the undersurface of the vault.
Rococo:  A style originating in France, c. 1720, developed out of Baroque types, and characterized by its ornamentation of shellwork, foliage, etc., and its refined use of different materials, such as stucco, metal, or  wood for a delicate effect.
Roman style:  Concrete rounded arches, arcades (series of supported arches), vaults (elongated arch) and domes enabled buildings to have vast, un-broken spaces eliminating the need for support based designs of the past.
Romanesque style:  Fortress like cathedral construction.  The desire to be fire and destruction proof influenced the use of thick heavy stonework including the roof.
Romanesque Revival or Neo-Romanesque style:  A style of building in the late 19th century (roughly 1840 through 1900) inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque style of architecture.
roof slab: A slab of reinforced concrete that serves as a flat roof.
rose window:  A circular window composed of patterned tracery arranged in petal-like formation.
rotunda:   A large and high circular hall or room in a building, especially one surmounted by a dome.
roundels: Single sheets of glass, usually circular, that are painted with a self-contained design.
rusticated: Rusticated masonry is squared-off and left with a more or less rough surface, with a deep “V” or square joint or with finished flanking corners that emphasize the edges of each block.  Rustication gives a texture that contrasts with smooth ashlar masonry.

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