Wren’s Nest Conservation Project — Fixing Historic Windows
I was reading this post on historic window repair from Villa Finale, a National Trust Historic Site in Texas, and it reminded me that I hadn’t shared anything about our own window conservation.
Most of the windows in the Wren’s Nest are original. There’s one, however, that’s been boarded up for as long as I’ve been here.
The window is at the top of the stairwell, but it isn’t within easy reach at the top of the stairs. The best way to get to it is actually through the secret hatch in the roof. We’re keen on hatches.
I wanted to make sure we repaired the window as accurately as possible, but I didn’t know who to call.
That is, not until I met Tom Bretherton at the Decatur Old House Fair. Tom kicks it so old school that he spells it ‘ye olde school’ and nobody laughs, not even the English majors. He’s meticulous about historic preservation, and to be honest many of the details of what he did went way over my head.
Very basically, Tom removed and repaired the sash. Then he reinstalled it, replacing a few rotten parts.
He even busted out his sewing kit. Tom was explaining what he was doing exactly, but then the doorbell started ringing and I had to fetch it. My guess is: sewing the rope to the rope.
When I came back we had a new window!
The glass isn’t original the to the Wren’s Nest, but it is contemporary to our glass. There are striations and bubbles and everything.
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Amber Suitt
Program Director
Lain Shakespeare
Executive Director
9 Comments to Wren’s Nest Conservation Project — Fixing Historic Windows
Looks great, but that thing is a bugger to get to. You need to get some ‘Scooby Doo’ style picture with you guys poking your heads out of the hatch.
Good stuff. I hope you have all the digital pictures backed up somewhere. Good use of the word “striations” too.
Out of the blue yesterday at Wren’s Nest Fest my grandchildren Yejide (7) and Ayinde (5) wanted to see the upstairs of the Wrens Nest. What’s a granddaddy to do? So we went upstairs a brightly lite stairwell. I was overjoyed and pleasantly surprised. Great work Tom that piece of plywood had no artistic value. It is a great job on a window unfortunately only the staff and those who read the blog will know. I am sure the house loves it.
Wow. You continue to amaze me .
I’ve been meaning to write a post about the value of restoring rather than replacing windows in your own home. Window replacement is a plague. It sure looks like you found a craftsman for your restoration. He did a beautiful job.
Liz
Thanks, Liz and Ida Beth and Marshall and Joe and David!
Also, Liz, I just wanted to say that I am equally impressed with the Centers and Squares website. I mean no offense to realtors, but your site is probably the best real estate website I’ve come across in a good while!
What happened to the original glass? Glass is an amorphous solid, which means that it tends to “run” over a period of many years. Anybody who’s ever been to a historic home with the original glass can see the distortions in the glass that only occur over long periods of time. Not only that, but glass was manufactured differently back then. The imperfections are beautiful and historically relevant.
I can see from one of the pictures that there appears to be some glass remaining… What happened to it?
Scott, good point!
Whenever we have cracked or broken historic glass from the larger windows, we cut it into smaller pieces to repair the smaller panes (see, for example, the 2nd picture). That way we can recycle our historic glass and retain the character of the home.
In this case, we didn’t have any of the original glass to work with, so Tom used glass from the same period, just not the same house.
That’s very cool! I wouldn’t begin to know where to get “period glass”…
I just love going into old homes and seeing how the glass has transformed over time. To think what someone else might have viewed through the same pane…