Complement Your Home’s Architecture With the Right Windows – Part 1: Casement and Bow Windows for Vintage Homes

If you want to make your home stand (for the right reasons), make sure the different components of your exterior harmonize with each other and create a cohesive effect. This is especially crucial when you’re aiming for historic accuracy. If you own a traditional home, for example, you can’t go wrong with casement or bow windows–exceptional choices that will enhance the classic aesthetic of your home.  

Casement Windows

This window style has graced homes for centuries and was considered the go-to option before sash windows were introduced. Casement windows are attached to their frames via side hinges, allowing you to crank them open outward like a door. These windows used to come in metal frames and leaded glass, but they’re now available in a number of other materials, including wood, vinyl and composite materials.

Casement windows are typically associated with:

• Cabin and Cottage Homes. Their simple and classic design can greatly add to a Cabin or Cottage home’s casual feel and rustic charm. Because casement windows can be opened fully, they provide an expansive outdoor view while letting in fresh, healthy air. This complements a Cabin or Cottage home’s emphasis on the connection to nature.
• Tudor Homes. This home style is known for its medieval characteristics, including a steeply-pitched roofline, decorative half-timbering on the exterior and wooden board doors with ornate hardware. Given how casement windows were introduced right around the same period, they’ll fit right in with this style, especially when equipped with the right grille pattern and art glass.

Bow Windows

This window style can be traced all the way back to 18th century Europe and is recognizable by its graceful, curved appearance. Bow windows consist of four or more panels joined together to form an arched shape. They protrude from the home, creating a deep sill area you can use as additional seating, storage, or as a surface for displaying plants, photos and other knickknacks.

Bow windows are somewhat different from bay units, which have a more angular shape. Both window styles work well in vintage homes. They work best in Queen Anne homes, which emphasize asymmetry and ornate details. In fact, a bow window will fit right in among the verandas, towers and turrets commonly associated with a Queen Anne home.

Stay tuned for the second installment of our three-part blog, where we discuss how picture and gliding windows enhance the beauty of Contemporary and Modern homes.