When you’re restoring an old house, windows and doors can present some of the biggest conundrums. As portals to your home, they help define its architectural style more than any other single detail—so it’s important that they be grounded in historical tradition. But what about the latest and greatest energy-saving features? Is it possible to have both in the same package? These three articles will help alleviate some of your concerns—whether that’s choosing the right door style for your house, figuring out how to combine era appropriateness with energy efficiency, or simply searching for the perfect shutters to top it all off.
These triple-glazed French doors from Jeld-Wen could qualify for federal energy tax credits.
Energy-Efficient Windows for Old Houses: Looking to cut your energy costs and perhaps score a tax credit? Plenty of period-friendly windows and doors meet the new standards, but so do interior storms.
Doors and Entrances by Design: Here’s help in finding stylistic matches for the portals fronting your old house.
Exterior Shutters and Hardware: Period reproduction shutters not only come with authentic architectural detailing and sympathetic hardware, but they’re operable, too.
New This Week
Wide-plank wood floors by Hull Forest Products.
Flooring Options for Period Homes: The flooring you choose sets the style, period, and tone for the room.
Texas Independence in Washington County: The rolling countryside of Washington County, Texas, is tranquil and pastoral. But this quiet part of the Lone Star State is also its most historic.
The 1931 uncut stone house was hand-built by a New York state trooper gifted the land (in Sound Beach, a then-remote area of Long Island) as a value-added premium on a newspaper subscription.
Stone Cottage Rehab: A diamond-in-the-rough cottage on Long Island proves a charming first house for a couple of newlywed restorers.
