We are reviving an old post about historic windows since we have received so many questions about windows this week. I wrote this back in October 2007 – remember to look in the category section of the blog under “historic homes” or “architecture” for informative articles that may help you with restoration of historic homes or even remodeling of your existing one. We always appreciate your feedback!
You are going to think I am crazy for writing an article about the correct use of windows. But you need to know that windows are my
pet peeve. Windows are a key element in a building’s architecture, and the incorrect use of a window can ruin a building’s facade. When doing the Miami Beach Real Estate thing I am always shocked at what I see.
I drive around every day looking at Miami Architecture shaking my head. You see Spanish Mediterranean homes with Colonial windows, Colonial homes with casement windows, or Mid-century modern homes with single-hung windows. This drives me absolutely crazy, so instead of complaining, I’ll try to explain some basics.
Vitruvius, known as the first Roman architect to have written on his field, always talked about architecture as an imitation of nature, and ultimately defined the Vitruvian Man (drawn by Leonardo da Vinci). The Vitruvian Man, represents perfect human proportions and fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order. I will not go into detail about the human proportions but will only tell you that the first windows were vertical in nature made to represent the human body, or better yet, were designed according to human proportions.
I have sketched a common window to show what proportions are about – notice the vertical nature of the window. Different styles of architecture call for different window proportions. And although I’m not going into detail about what type of window is appropriate for what type of architecture, my purpose is to help you “see” and discern the different proportions.
You have no idea how good it feels when friends and loved ones start noticing things that they really never paid attention to. It’s great that Rick can go into a house now, with his “accountant eye” and say, “too bad they replaced the windows with the wrong type”. It’s a big YESSSssss in my book.
Here are 3 sketches of the same house with different types of windows – please excuse my primitive pen and inks, but I think it helps to make a point.
The house is a small scaled Mediterranean Revival typical of the 1920’s in South Florida. One of the three window types is correct for the style.
Sketch “A” shows the house with a horizontal awning window,
Sketch “B” shows the house with a vertical casement window,
Sketch “C” shows the house with a colonial window.
The differences may be a bit subtle for the untrained eye, but the correct use for a Mediterranean Revival home is the casement window. If we want to go into detail, the proportion of the window lights and the placement of the muntins is also very important. But I would much rather see a plain casement without muntins, than the other 2 applications.
So what’s the purpose of this blog and how does it apply to you? Start looking at windows, notice differences, that way when you are ready to replace a window in your home, you will know which type to use. Please don’t ask window companies, most of them will not care what you use and which window type is appropriate; when in doubt, ask a professional. There are plenty of architects that do consulting and would be glad to answer questions. There are also historic boards throughout that may be able to help you.
If you have a question about windows, let me know……I’ll try my best to answer.
I live in Miami Beach in a beautiful 1928 home. All my bathrooms are original except for one, that looks to be from the 70’s. I am planning to renovate this bathroom in the style of the house. All of the original bathrooms have tile floors (4X4″ tiles in one color). I recently saw the original DeGarmo house in Coconut Grove, and fell in love with the Cuban tile flooring. Do you think I can use that type of flooring in that particular bathroom, making it the only one in the house like that, or should I stick with the same type of flooring as in the other bathrooms?
Thanks in advance,
Esther Rubin
Hi Esther, my original gut reaction would be to think of uniformity. I have to think as a Realtor and tell you that for resale value, there’s nothing like keeping your bathrooms and tile the same or very similar. My opinion would vary if we were talking about a powder room where you could afford to be different and make a statement using finishes from the period, funky lamps and a great vanity.
1928 Spanish Mediterranean bathroom floor tile would have normally been of a honeycomb pattern and usually black and white but in cities like Morningside and Coral Gables, you also see the colorful 4X4’s
hope that helps!
Hi Ines:
Great article on proper windows for med revival homes. I was curious to know what you would suggest as correct entry way doors on these historic homes. I have noticed many of these houses in the upper east side have 1970’s “Burt Reynolds” era doors that don’t seem to match. Then again a Spanish Colonial dark door with a rought iron hardware might be overkill. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter – thanks
Thank you Leo,
There is not an “unwritten rule” about front doors for Mediterranean Revival homes, but I can tell you that most of the houses I have visited and studied usually have a heavy solid wood door (usually with vertical grooves and possibly a rectangular window on upper center).
There are some homes that have heavy wrought iron details – from hardware to metal knots to door knockers. It’s easy to go overboard, simplicity is always key.
Hi Ines, I am so with you on this one! This is a great explanation with excellent visuals – I’m really envious of your artistic skills. Window replacement is one of the banes of my existence. And another personal pet peeve are the new houses with windows of half a dozen styles – and no rhyme or reason – often accompanied by three or four different types of siding. Eek!
Liz
Leo – just visited a Walter DeGarmo in Miami Shores and took a photo of the door viewer for you http://www.flickr.com/photos/miamism/3628733405/
Liz, windows can make or break a home – I wish people would be more sensitive to scale and proportions, but it’s all about educating the “common eye”. Thank God for not doing siding in South Florida
Ines – I think that windows are the eyes into the soul of the home. Although I cannot tell WHY a window may be “wrong” … I can definitely tell when they are not right. This is a truly wonderful and educational post for both the Miami real estate market … and even mine!
Thanks Mariana – windows have always been my pet peeve and love to see people interested in learning why something may not look quite right – in Miami it’s all about “hurricane impact” windows now….people forget that you can achieve both aesthetic appropriateness and address safety concerns, they don’t need to be separate.
Very useful article. Are there general rules for height to width proportions for double hung windows? We are going to replace our double hungs (6 over 6 light pattern) with a height to width of 1.8 with hopefully a slightly larger sized window, but with a 4 over 1 pattern. Do we want to keep 1.8 h to w? If we go wider the 4 lites on the top start to get a bit fatter.
Ethan, I need more information to be able to help you – the year and style of the house would help as well as location and exterior materials. Double hungs were used by a variety of styles and if you have lights, then it’s usually colonial (the actual lights are square). The best bet if for you to try to get the original plans for the house to see what the architect intentions were – if you are changing the size of the opening, then all bets are off.
The overall look of the window should be a rectangular (up and down) – broken up into 2 squares and then those broken up into other smaller squares (vitruvian proportions at its best).
The house was originally a Garrison Colonial built in 1968, but had a 1984 remodel adding a larger covered porch and a bump out that pretty much eliminated the “overbite” of the garrison. Windows are currently 6 over 6 but we hope to change to 4 over 1, and possibly a bit larger but same height to width ratio. Siding is clapboard, and the shutters presently on will likely be removed. Not sure there was brilliant architectural input on the original house!
Ethan – the 6 over 6 has a very particular look to it and changing to a 4 over 1 will totally change the look of the facade – just make sure you are ok with that. My pet peeve is light configuration and eliminating muntins from the double hungs may not give you the desired outcome. Sometimes drawing the facade with the change of proportions helps.