Window woes get our attention: not only problems with old windows that need maintenance but also with new windows that fail too soon, featuring finger-joints that fall apart, non-historic proportions, and poor reveals. Some windows, however, actually fix design dilemmas. While new windows are often the bad actors of the remodeling industry-as when original, proportional, still-serviceable and ever-fixable wood windows are sacrificed for ill-fitting replacements with a projected life of eight to 20 years-the right new window may improve the aesthetics and solve functional issues.
SUBTLE IMPROVEMENTS
With a long history as a barn and carriage house converted to a residence in the groovy Sixties, the building needed finesse. Minor changes to the roofline and glazing tied the design together.
AWNING & hopper
Double-hung and casement windows may be the most common types but many other systems of sash and jamb have a long precedent. An awning window hinges at the top to open outward from the bottom. These can sit high on the wall (like the square windows found flanking bungalow fireplaces) or be used as a transom. Hopper windows are a variation: these small, rectangular windows are hinged at the bottom and open inward at the top. They're familar in basements but may also be used above a door. Larger hopper windows can be used like an awning window in a protected wall (as under a porch). All of the major brands offer these and other window types.
folding, retractable
This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Old House Journal.
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This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Old House Journal.
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THE Villa RENEWED
This house in Greene County, New York, has been faithfully restored, from its foundation and structure to exterior elements and trim inside.
walls & ceilings
BY THE 1870s, the tripartite treatment was fashionable: walls divided into dado (or wainscot) below the chair rail, fill or field section, and frieze at the top of the wall.
lighting + hardware
ANTIQUE, REPRODUCTION, or contemporary, lighting fixtures and lamps are among the most cost-effective ways to add drama or period style to a room.
CRAFTSMAN PATINA
A smitten owner brings the Arts & Crafts aesthetic to a 1921 bungalow in Seattle.
furniture & decorative accessories
PERIOD ROOMS are the goal of a very small niche of old-house owners.
wall & floor tiles
TODAY WE FIND TILE from small studios . . . carved relief tiles, subway tile and mosaics, glazes matte and iridescent . . . plus encaustics and California revivals.
A TRANSCENDENT BATHROOM IN OJAI
A seamless addition allowed for this timeless primary bath, which has been re-imagined as an upgrade dating to ca. 1930.
CRAFTSMAN DETAILS IN A KITCHEN
An excellent layout and period motifs distinguish this midsize kitchen in a bungalow-era house.
home design - HOUSES HAVE A PAST - AND A FUTURE, TOO
THE BEST RENOVATIONS TOE THE LINE BETWEEN NECESSARY UPDATES AND ENOUGH SENSITIVITY TO ASSURE DESIGN INTEGRITY.
a farmhouse RESCUE
Using a cache of salvaged finds, the homeowner, architect, and contractor together rescued a tumbledown farmhouse in Vermont.