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Some people will go to extreme lengths to research the original colors of their Queen Anne or re-create lost bungalow woodwork. Yet many of these same old-house devotees flunk the historical accuracy test when it comes to exterior shutters, installing the wrong shape and even mounting them backwards. To avoid such blunders, it helps to review exactly what these devices were originally meant to do and how they're supposed to function and to revisit an often overlooked rule contained in the word itself-shutters should shut! Then you'll be ready for an analysis of your existing window openings for clues as to whether your house once had shutters and what you should look for in replacing them. Shutters 101 These panels and slats have been called shutters or blinds pretty much interchangeably since the founding of the country. Even Thomas Jefferson, in a 1796 letter, couldn't decide among shutters, blinds, Venetian shutters, and Venetian blinds. However, only "shutters" seems to have been used in describing a solid panel, and "Venetian" eventually attached itself to the popular interior treatment. Styles and Hardware On upper floors you'd be likely to encounter louvered blinds, which let in nighttime breezes. Solid shutters gave additional security to the first floor. Moveable louvers could be closed at night with a tilt rod, providing ventilation and privacy simultaneously. In some installations, known as Dutch shutters, the shutters were split so the lower half could be closed while the top half was left open; the room would have fresh air and infants were less likely to fall out or intruders to break in. Although hardware varied in style and placement, all shutters required some type of hinge to allow them to move and a hook or "shutter dog" to keep them closed. (Often decorative, shutter dogs rotate to hold the shutter fast). A common hinge style was a strap-and-pintle, in which the metal strap pivots on an upright pin. Sometimes seen, although more common on interior shutters, were H and HL hinges, named for their shapes. Mortise hinges sometimes have a catch-and-release feature that locks the shutter open or closed and allows easy removal when it comes time to paint. The shutter was hinged to the outside edge of the window opening in such a way that it closed into the window recess. Although shutters were most commonly paired on either side of the window, some were the size of the window opening itself and mounted only to one side. This might have been the case where a projecting architectural feature, such as a chimney, would interfere with a shutter on one side. Awning-style shutters, mounted at the top of the window, were held open with a wooden dowel, protecting the interior from the sun even when the shutter was completely open. This makes them a popular style for subtropical areas, and they're sometimes sold under names like Bermuda or Bahama shutters. The Missing Shutter If you're not lucky enough to locate vintage photographs of your own old house, you may still find evidence of old shutters, and what type they were, in and around your windows. If the top center of your window sill has one or two metal brackets or a recessed niche, chances are this was where shutters with hooks could be latched closed from inside the house. Similarly, look for holes or even hooks or catches on your exterior walls not far from your window sills. These would have been used to hold your shutters open. The most telltale sign would be hinge brackets or plates remaining on your window frame. You can also look for screw holes or a mortise where the hinge may have been removed long ago. Irregular lines in the paint on your siding are additional evidence
of shutters past. Once they installed permanent storm windows, homeowners
grew less likely to close their shutters and the more lackadaisical
didn't even bother to paint behind them. Dirt and leaves caught behind
shutters for years may have also left their mark on your siding, and
sun can fade siding color if your house hasn't been painted in a long
time. It's also important to match the original material of the shutters
you're attempting to replicate. Plastic shutters won't fool even the
most nearsighted observer; some with fixed molded louvers are one sided
and can't be fastened to a hinge. Although most shutters were wood,
metal was sometimes used in regions of extreme weather. Louvered shutters,
whether of the movable or fixed variety, should be hinged to the window
so the louvers angle down and away from the building when the shutters
are closed, directing away rain and snow. This means that when your
shutters are open, the louvers are angled toward the house. The bottom
of shutters were usually beveled so that they matched the pitch of the
window sill, closing tightly and keeping out water. The shutters of your Queen Anne may have taken on painted-lady rainbow hues during the Victorian era. Some acceptable options in the 19th century included using a darker or lighter version of the house's body color or, a bit more daring, painting the rails in the house's trim color and the panels or louvers in its body color. If you want to be on solid, conservative ground go with green, which whether verdigris, forest, or hunter was pretty much a cliché throughout the 1800s. In fact, we could say that the case for painting old shutters green is pretty much open and shut.
All that opening and closing had skewed their alignment, and in addition, recent research had shown that their styles were inappropriate to Washington's lifetime. Around 1796, the former president had apparently started changing all the shutters from panels to the louver-style then becoming more popular. He failed to complete the task, however, so that when he died, those on the east front were still panels, rather than the louvers put up in the late 19th century. According to paintings of that time, he never had shutters on the second storey. The hardware was all wrong as well. Examination of the window frames and stripping of the six surviving original shutter pairs showed that the louvered shutters were hung on strap-and-pintle hinges (see below) and the panel shutters on HL hinges (named for their shape) rather than the butt hinges then being used. New paint was also in order. "Green" and even "verdigris" cover a wide spectrum, and simultaneous research at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello showed that since the verdigris paints of the 18th century tended to fade, the original green on both mansions' shutters was a much brighter hue. Although the six original pairs had been stripped and stained many times, there was just enough original paint surviving in minute cracks to lend itself to color analysis by consultant Susan Buck. It took about four months and cost about $65,000 to replace 24 pairs
of handmade, heart pine shutters in the time-appropriate style with
the correct hand-forged hardware. "People just assume that a place
like Mount Vernon is static," says Pogue. "But as time goes
on, we're often given opportunities to apply new research to make things
even more authentic." Suppliers REM Industries Timberlane Woodcrafters Vixen Hill Gazebos and Shutters Withers industries
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