What Are the Best Windows for Historic Homes?

Windows define more of a home's character than most people realize. They determine the rhythm of a facade, the proportion of each room, and the visual language that signals a home's era and style. Changing the windows can change the whole face of the house. If you get it wrong, even an otherwise well-restored home can look off.

That's why interior designer and co-star of HGTV's Unsellable Houses, Lyndsay Lamb, who is restoring her 1920s bungalow in Washington state, prioritizes its historic aesthetic.

"With this house, I really wanted to bring out its character, and bringing out the character of this home is really what brings me joy and what I've really loved about this house," Lyndsay said.

"Most of the windows were in really bad shape,” she remembered. “Out of I think 28 windows there were maybe a handful that were actually working. I wanted to make sure that we were addressing the things that really were going to help add value to this house. Windows were at the top of that list."

Likewise, Liz Marie Galvan who restored an 1840s farmhouse in Michigan, put windows at the top of her renovation priority list. "Most people don't think a lot about the aesthetics of windows," she said, "but windows themselves can be a game changer." For her, a historically accurate grille pattern was non-negotiable. "One of the key parts of our renovation was to use a historically accurate grille pattern. So every window and door we've added to the house has simulated divided light grilles, bringing a sense of history to the space both inside and out."

When your windows are beyond repair, you need to think about more than which windows perform best but also which windows look like they belong.

Window style – double hung, specialty, etc. – can help determine whether a window looks right. For most historic homes, two categories cover the majority of needs.

Single-hung and double-hung windows

Single-hung windows feature a lower sash that moves up and down, and an upper sash that is fixed. Double-hung windows are the most historically prevalent operating window type for most American architecture. Both the upper and lower sash slide vertically, which is how windows worked in most homes built before the mid-20th century. The visual profile, the proportions, and the operation all fit naturally in colonial, Federal, Victorian, Craftsman, and farmhouse-style homes.

They're also practical. Liz Marie Galvan chose double-hung windows from Renewal by Andersen for her farmhouse restoration for a specific reason: they're easier to clean. "With the release of two clips, I just tip the windows inward and easily clean them from inside the comfort of my home." For a two-story home, that matters even more.

Double-hung windows also offer good ventilation control. You can open the bottom sash to let cool air in, the top sash to let warm air out, or both for cross ventilation. This matters in older homes where room placement and natural airflow were part of the original design logic.

Not every opening in a historic home is a standard rectangle. Arched windows, semicircular transoms, round accent windows, and other non-standard shapes require custom manufacturing to replace properly.

Custom specialty windows can be designed to match the original shape of a wide variety of openings and combined with operating windows for ventilation. At Renewal by Andersen, specialty windows are available in 15 different shape options, including custom and combination configurations. They can be paired with grille patterns and interior finishes to create a complete picture that looks like it was always part of the home.

The best windows for historic homes are ones that look like they've always been there. That typically comes down to a few details: grille patterns and specialty shapes. Together, they help give new windows the visual language of the original architecture.

In her 1920s home, Lyndsay Lamb chose black double-hung windows with colonial grilles. "I want to make them a statement in this house," she said. Her choice fits well into her home's existing architecture and style. "I absolutely love them. They're beautiful. The style of them are just absolutely gorgeous."

The vast majority of windows in homes built before the 1950s and ‘60s were made of solid wood. After World War II, a surplus of metal resulted in the first aluminum windows for residential use. If you have a historical home, chances are your original windows are or were solid wood. The downside of solid wood windows is their susceptibility to rot.

If you’re replacing solid wood windows in your historic home, you have a few material options to stay within the architectural story of your home.

• Clad wood: Most modern-day wood windows have a wood core or interior and are covered, or “clad,” in other materials like aluminum, fiberglass, or vinyl. Acting as a barrier, window cladding can help resist moisture, wood rot, insect damage, and damage from harmful UV rays. These windows often have a wood interior that you can stain or paint, giving you the historical character that the original windows had.
• Composite: Composite replacement windows combine the beauty and charm of wood, and the low-maintenance nature of vinyl. Many composite frames like our Acclaim® replacement windows made with Fibrex® composite material have real wood veneer interior options to match the look you’re trying to achieve.
• Fiberglass: Fiberglass is technically a composite material as well, made with glass fibers and resin. Like composite materials, fiberglass can be paired with a real wood veneer interior or a material engineered to look like wood.

The Arched Manor (Leesburg, Virginia)

When Megan and John Kaplar moved into their Georgian colonial home, the 20-year-old wood windows had rotted frames, gaps, and water leaks. After a drafty winter, spring rainstorms, and a summer of insect infiltration, they knew the windows had to go.

Their biggest design challenge was the home's signature arched windows. They worked with a Renewal by Andersen design consultant to create single-piece picture windows that mimicked the look of steel-framed windows with black mullions. The consultant also helped save them thousands of dollars by recommending they raise the bottom frame of the large rear windows by 15 inches. That recommendation created an option that kept the aesthetic of the couple's Georgian, and also reduced the glass area enough that the windows could be meet the local code with non-tempered glass.

The final result was white composite exteriors for HOA design compliance, wood interiors painted black, and large picture windows that gave the home a dramatic aesthetic. "The windows are really the star of the show," Megan Kaplar said.

HGTV's Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis had all the windows in their Snohomish, Washington design center replaced. The building was an old 1920s house that still had its original single-pane windows with weight-and-pulley mechanics. They wanted to preserve the original character of the windows and worked with Renewal by Andersen for custom design and manufacturing.

The building's historic bones, original woodwork, and unique architectural details required windows that could hold their own visually while meeting modern performance standards.

Specialty and custom windows were central to the project. The goal throughout was to maintain the historic design elements of the building while adding their own identity to the space. "I love the fact that we were able to add a little extra design to our windows and not lose any of the character that we already had. We got to keep the character of the old building, but we still added a little extra design feature to the windows. And the windows now on the exterior are a feature of the building," Lyndsay said.