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Old-house owners can be passionate, even defensive, about their old windows. They would rather put up with a few rattles and drafts than give up their wavy glass panes and aged wood. Most windows are primarily practical, allowing fresh breezes and sunshine in, stale air and curious gazes out. But specialty windows-with distinctive shapes, muntin patterns, or artful placement or arrangements-are architectural and character-defining features as well. What would a Gothic Revival house be without its narrow, pointed windows? Chicago windows, with their fixed sash flanked by operable vents, helped delineate the architecture of that city in the late 19th century. Specialty windows can work their magic indoors or out. An eyebrow adds
a visual surprise to a Shingle-style roofline, while an oriel opens
up a Tudor dining room. A cameo provides staid Colonial Revivals with
a punctuation mark as well as a peephole; a row of clerestories lends
horizontal emphasis to the façade of a Prairie-style abode. Specialty windows are becoming more widely available as stock or custom
windows from large national distributors. For quite a few dollars more,
restoration millwork specialists-who have always been as willing and
able as Alice's Restaurant to give you anything you want-can combine
restoration glass with insulating properties. Today's computer-assisted
design allows them to control specifications to a thousandth of an inch.
Several companies stock cameo-style ovals. Kolbe & Kolbe has a "Decorative Series" in seven shapes with options for colorful glass, brass caming, and bevels. Most are fixed (nonopening), but both round and square can vent from the side (casement) or bottom (awning). Only slightly less showy are the company's Radius windows (round, oval, elliptical) in half a dozen different divided-light patterns. A century ago it was fashionable for double-hung windows to have a single light (or pane) in the bottom sash and many small lights in the upper sash. They were variously called "divided top," "fancy top," or "Queen Anne" (although they were seen on other styles of that period). The panes were often diamond or spear shapes, or a combination of the two. One window maker, Hurd, lists a Queen Anne option for a forthcoming new design. Pella and Anderson make double-hungs with what they call "Prairie" grid patterns similar to those popular on early 20th-century Foursquares and bungalows. For a more showy Arts & Crafts touch, Anderson has 11 art glass patterns, four of which are duplicates of Frank Lloyd Wright designs. Although these national suppliers offer customization to a greater or lesser degree, if you want or need to meet historic district or preservation tax-grant standards, you should probably go to a specialist-especially if you want authentic touches like antique glass, era-appropriate hardware, or even true divided lights. As most old-house owners know, lights in early windows were small until technology made larger panes feasible and inexpensive. A single sash typically had a couple dozen lights in the 17th century, perhaps six by the early 19th century, with single-light windows available around 1900. Today's window makers recognize that homeowners still like the look of these small divided lights, but argue that they're not energy efficient. Thus, instead of true muntins we have "grilles," either inside double-glazed windows or bonded to the surfaces of the sash (with the option of being removable for cleaning, usually just on the inside). You can still find stock windows that have true divided lights, however, with metal spacers between inside and outside grilles. Custom window makers who specialize in restoration produce true divided lights almost exclusively. H. Jay Eshelman, chief executive officer of the Woodstone Company, notes several reasons besides authenticity. If a small pane gets broken, the whole window won't need replacing; large pieces of antique glass simply aren't available; and even if an old window has had its divided lights replaced with a single pane of insulating glass, it may still leak where it matters most-between the sash and jam. There is one instance where Woodstone might be unable to give a client true divided lights, and that is if they need super insulating glass, which requires a larger surface area and wider muntin than conventional insulating glass. That's right, insulating glass. You don't have to choose between staying warm in winter and having glass with a romantic wavy look-custom window makers can incorporate restoration glass in true divided light insulating glass sashes. Brent Hull of Hull Historical Restoration says he sometimes laminates historic glass to tempered glass for safety. In Texas, where he's based, insulated glass isn't a popular option because heat gain is a much bigger problem than heat loss. A custom specialty window's cost will depend on not only its overall size and the complexity of the design, but light size, the need for custom hardware and pulleys, and whether you must match the original muntin profiles or have a rare wood for the rails and stiles. Residential clients, unlike historic landmarks, can often compromise on some of these criteria, notes Hull. You may also want to factor in an architect's fee; Woodstone recommends hiring one for all but fairly simple projects. Hull says he can often work from a photograph or template of a window, although spec'ing an oval cameo window, for instance, "requires a little more sophistication" than a double-hung. For the sophistication they can add to your house, specialty windows are well worth the added effort.
The Last Gasp of the Squeegee Both Pilkington, a British company, and PPG Industries have come out with self-cleaning window glass made by applying a titanium dioxide coating to the glass while it's still molten. The coating has two results: a photocatalytic effect, which causes organic matter to break down in ultraviolet light; and a hydrophilic effect, which causes rain to run off the glass in sheets rather than bead up. Pilkington calls its product Activ Self-Cleaning Glass; PPG's is SunClean. These systems aren't perfect. Because they repel only organic matter,
typical dirt particles that contain a mix of organic and inorganic material
may not slip off as readily. Huge blobs of matter-droppings from a condor,
perhaps-will be slow to break up, and windows under large overhangs
may not get enough rain to self-clean well. Both coatings are invisible
and, their manufacturers say, won't yellow or become brittle over time.
Glossary Awning Window: Tilts out with the opening in the bottom. Found on the sides of greenhouses, it allows in fresh air while keeping out rain. Bay Window: Projects from the surface of an exterior wall and extends to the ground. Bow Window: More rounded than a bay window, extending in a semicircle from an exterior wall; sometimes called a compass window. Cameo Window: A fixed oval window with surrounding moulding, usually with muntins that may form ornamental patterns. Especially popular on Colonial Revival houses. Casement Window: One of the earliest moveable windows, dating from medieval times to the first hung sashes around 1750, it swings on hinges like a door. Casements are still appropriate to many styles: Tudor, Gothic Revival, Spanish Eclectic, Prairie, and in steel on Modern houses. Clerestory: Pronounced "clear-story," these are windows placed high in a wall, often in bands. Most frequently found above the nave of a church, they are associated with Prairie or Modern houses. Cottage Window: A single- or double-hung window in which the top sash is smaller than the bottom, often with a decorative muntin pattern. Diocletian: An ancient Roman motif adopted by Palladio in the 16th century, this is a semicircular window divided into three parts by two wide uprights (mullions). Also called a "therm," it was most often seen on early 20th-century Classical Revival structures. Eyebrow: Most commonly found on Shingle-style or Queen Anne houses, eyebrow dormers appear as a smooth curve in the roof. Fanlight: A half circle or half ellipse over a door or occasionally another window, containing muntins in a fanlike pattern. Fanlights are associated with Adam, Colonial Revival, early Classical Revival, and Neoclassical houses. Foil: Rounded lobes that meet in cusps. Trefoils have three lobes, quatrefoils have four. Gothic-Head: A window topped with a pointed arch, not as tall and narrow as a lancet window. Seen on Tudor as well as Gothic Revival houses. Hopper: Operates opposite of the awning, swinging out or in from hinges on the bottom. Lancet: A narrow window with a sharp pointed arch, sometimes with diamond-shaped lights, typical of Gothic. Lattice Window: A window with diamond-shaped lights, originating in medieval architecture with glazing bars of lead. Now the lights are more likely to be divided by wooden muntins. Lozenge: A diamond-shaped light, sometimes set above a pair of lancet windows. Lunette: A crescent or semi-circular window in a wall or vaulted ceiling, unassociated with a door or other window as a fanlight would be. Oculus: Based on the Latin word for "eye," this refers to a round or oval window with no tracery or ornamental divisions. It's sometimes called a bull's-eye window. Oriel: A window projecting from a wall, supported by brackets,
corbels, or a cantilever. Unlike a bay window, it Palladian: A three-part window in which the central window has an arched head and the side windows have square heads. Used in Adam, Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial Revival, and Neoclassical houses. Queen Anne Window: Small glass lights arranged in patterns, usually only on the upper sash. Triple Window: Any group of three windows with square heads, frequently found on Colonial Revival houses. Wheel Window: A round window with muntins radiating from the center. Also called a rose window or a Catherine-wheel window.
Allegheny Restoration Andersen Corp. Architectural Components Hull Historical Restoration Hurd Millwork Co. Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co. Marvin Windows and Doors Mauer & Shepherd Joyners Pella Corporation Pozzi wood windows Weather Shield Windows and Doors The Woodstone Co. Zeluck Architectural Wood Windows and Doors |
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