Worst Window Replacement Ever?

Worst window replacement ever? It gets my vote. That's an abomination. It's wrong on so many levels.

If you want some new pearly whites, please go to the dentist to get them not the local discount big box hardware mega-store.
Below are some web resources to help provide guidance for would be destroyers of historic wood windows. As you'll read, your home likely has bigger issues than windows. Insulate your attic. Plug up your foundation. Weatherstrip your doors.

Replacing windows doesn't make economic sense. Put the crowbar down and please slowly step away from the windows.

I Need An Energy Audit Stat, by Jane Koncius, Washington Post

The Must Read Tip Sheet from the National Trust

Tips to Make Your Home Green, from PreservationNation.org

PreservationNation blog posting by Rebecca Williams

New Albany Historic Preservation Commission, Window Design Guidelines

This Old House - on the Bough

My buddy and neighbor, Nora, had a birthday party for her house when it turned 100. This Old House magazine thought that was a swell idea and featured her on page 14 of the March edition.

This Old House sent Dan Dry to take a few photographs. And of course I took photographs of him taking photographs.
Thank you Nora for what you did to feature your home and bring attention to our little river town. I’m proud to be your neighbor.

The 100K house – get small, get cheap, get green

Despite carrying the “preservationist” label (which seems to carry a load of negative stereotyped baggage along with it in these parts) I’m also a huge fan of modern architecture. New construction design that mimics or replicates an earlier architectural style looks fine if you are walking down Main Street at Disney, but looks absolutely ridiculous in the real world. Design has been a topic covered before on this blog. New Construction needs to look new.

Our focus in these parts should be our existing housing stock. Building reuse is an absolute no-brainer. It is not rational to destroy resources that can be adapted and reused. This is true for entire structures and the elements that make up the structures (yes, even windows which are filling up our landfills at an alarming rate).

There is, however, plenty of room in our center city neighborhoods for new construction. This project (The 100K House) caught my attention recently. The project leaders have a conviction that "green" and "affordable" can go hand-in-hand. They are actually building that conviction.


The design is modern. It’s green. It’s LEED Platinum certified. It’s affordable.

How about we do it here?