Original Window Inventory

July 20, 2005

As we mention in the house history, sometime in the 1940s or so this house was left empty and it was stripped to the studs, including windows.  We’ve taken a window inventory with the help of the original architectural plans.  We believe that the house had 59 casement windows, 18 transom windows, and one large fixed glass window in the main house.  None of them remain.  The little house had 9 casement windows and 4 transoms.  It appears to have one original window and one original transom.

In most cases in the plans you find a set of casement windows with a transom window above.  The transoms generally were 40x10 inches with four panes; the casement windows generally were 18x32 inches with 6 panes each (3 rows by 2 columns).  Here are pictures of the little house windows we believe to be original.  The bathroom windows in the main house were probably like this original little house window with no transom above it.

Here is a little house transom window.  The windows below it are covered in the picture but they are currently single pane windows.  Through the transom window you can see the vinyl replacements in the main house.

I figure if they could make the windows 100 years ago, they can be made again.  So, we’ve got one original window; 67 to go over the next few decades.  One transom down, 21 to go.

In terms of window framing changes, we have found the following:

Windows that were covered over:

●      Most of the transom windows in the big house were simply walled over.  In only three rooms in the main house does evidence remain of transom windows. 

●      Two sets of windows in the kitchen, placed side-by-side on the north wall, were covered over.  A small aluminum window remains.

Windows that were added:

●      One window in the attic space above the second floor was likely added in construction and may, in fact, be an original window. 

●      The bedroom next to the kitchen has a window leading into the great room.  This window has led some to speculate the room had been opened on the outside wall to serve as a cold room for the kitchen.  There is no evidence in the exterior siding of the room having been opened, so this seemed far-fetched to me.  As it turns out, the window is not original to the house.  And I expect it was not a very early addition.  The room was designed as a bedroom but a door was added leading to the kitchen and the room probably was a cold room in its early days.  The window into the great room would have brought more warm air into the room, so the window is probably not that old.

●      Five windows were added to the house with the addition of rooms.  Two of those windows are in two bathrooms that were added to the house; the remaining three are in three attic spaces that were converted into small bedrooms.   We plan to reframe and replace them to fit the style of the rest of the windows.

●      Walls of windows were added when the porch rooms were enclosed.  When my parents bought the house in 1982, the windows were aluminum.  They have been replaced with vinyl.

Doors instead of windows:

●      In the dining room, two sets of casement windows with transoms on top were replaced by a sliding glass door.  When my parents bought the place, the slider was there but there was a drop of over 10 feet to the ground below.  There is now a deck outside the door to make that first step a little easier.  This slider would not be useful if the porch adjoining the dining room was opened.  Its destiny is likely tied to the destiny of the adjacent porch.

●      Off of two bedrooms in the front there are doors that lead to private decks.  As these decks wear out, we will not likely replace them and will reframe the windows.

For anyone who is replacing replacement windows with a replica of the original, how are you finding your people?

Here is a little house transom window.  The windows below it are covered in the picture but they are currently single pane windows.  Through the transom window you can see the vinyl replacements in the main house.

I figure if they could make the windows 100 years ago, they can be made again.  So, we’ve got one original window; 67 to go over the next few decades.  One transom down, 21 to go.

In terms of window framing changes, we have found the following:

Windows that were covered over:

●      Most of the transom windows in the big house were simply walled over.  In only three rooms in the main house does evidence remain of transom windows. 

●      Two sets of windows in the kitchen, placed side-by-side on the north wall, were covered over.  A small aluminum window remains.

Windows that were added:

●      One window in the attic space above the second floor was likely added in construction and may, in fact, be an original window. 

●      The bedroom next to the kitchen has a window leading into the great room.  This window has led some to speculate the room had been opened on the outside wall to serve as a cold room for the kitchen.  There is no evidence in the exterior siding of the room having been opened, so this seemed far-fetched to me.  As it turns out, the window is not original to the house.  And I expect it was not a very early addition.  The room was designed as a bedroom but a door was added leading to the kitchen and the room probably was a cold room in its early days.  The window into the great room would have brought more warm air into the room, so the window is probably not that old.

●      Five windows were added to the house with the addition of rooms.  Two of those windows are in two bathrooms that were added to the house; the remaining three are in three attic spaces that were converted into small bedrooms.   We plan to reframe and replace them to fit the style of the rest of the windows.

●      Walls of windows were added when the porch rooms were enclosed.  When my parents bought the house in 1982, the windows were aluminum.  They have been replaced with vinyl.

Doors instead of windows:

●      In the dining room, two sets of casement windows with transoms on top were replaced by a sliding glass door.  When my parents bought the place, the slider was there but there was a drop of over 10 feet to the ground below.  There is now a deck outside the door to make that first step a little easier.  This slider would not be useful if the porch adjoining the dining room was opened.  Its destiny is likely tied to the destiny of the adjacent porch.

●      Off of two bedrooms in the front there are doors that lead to private decks.  As these decks wear out, we will not likely replace them and will reframe the windows.

For anyone who is replacing replacement windows with a replica of the original, how are you finding your people?

Comments

[jm]

We were only missing a handful of windows, so we actually had matches made.

http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000234.html

But I've heard that there are some excellent "look a-like" windows out there. (The folks at Fine Homebuilding speak highly of Jeld Wen and the Pozzi collection by Jeld Wen is very nice looking.) You might want to check out both options since you have so many windows to replace.

[GaleForce]

Thanks for the link! I will definitely get that book. So much to learn...

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