Witch window: Difference between revisions
Revision as of 18:37, 11 August 2010
In American vernacular architecture, a witch window (also known as a Vermont window or a coffin window[1] [2] ) is a window (usually a double-hung sash window, occasionally a single-sided casement window) placed in the gable-end wall of a house[1] and rotated approximately 1/8 of a turn (45 degrees) from the vertical, leaving its long edge parallel to the roof slope.[1] [2] This technique allows a builder to fit a full-sized window into the long, narrow wall space between two adjacent roof lines (see photograph). These windows are found almost exclusively in or near the U.S. state of Vermont, principally in farmhouses from the 19th century.[2] [1]
Dormer windows, which can leave a room very cold, are relatively unusual in Vermont, particularly in older construction; windows are mostly placed in walls. When a house is expanded, for example with a kitchen wing or an attached shed, there may be very little wall space available in which to put a window, which may be the only window available for an upper floor room (if there is no dormer). The solution is to rotate the window until its long edge is parallel to the nearby roof line, the better to maximize the space available for a window.[1] Thus, not only is window area (and thus incoming light and ventilation) maximized, but the difficulty of building (or the expense of buying) a custom window is avoided.[citation needed ]
An alternative explanation for the orientation of the window is that getting at least one corner of a window up as far as possible in the interior of the house (see interior photo) allows hot air (which rises to the top of the room) to escape on summer afternoons.[citation needed ] However, this reasoning seems suspect, as Vermont is not as hot as many other locations,[3] while the windows are not ubiquitous.[1] If heat escape were the goal, diagonal windows could be placed in other walls as well.
The name "witch window" appears to come from a superstition that witches cannot fly their broomsticks through the tilted windows.[citation needed ] The windows are also known as "coffin windows"; it is unclear if they really were used for removing a coffin from the second floor (avoiding a narrow staircase), or if the odd placement on the wall was reminiscent of a coffin.[1] [4] Either explanation seems a bit far-fetched.[1] [4] They are also known as "Vermont windows" because of their distribution.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h George Nash, Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes. The Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut, 2003, p. 8.
- ^ a b c Howard Frank Mosher, A Stranger in the Kingdom, Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 1989 (republished 2002), p. 46.
- ^ See Matt Sutkoski, "Vermont is hot, but not like elsewhere", Burlington Free Press, August 5, 2010.
- ^ a b See Pacita T. de la Cruz, Adaptive re-use: An Early Twentieth Century Approach in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, by Dr. George Woodweard, Developer, and Herman Louis Duhring, Jr., Architect. M.S. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1984, p. 147.
Further reading
Herbert Wheaton Congdon, Old Vermont Houses: 1763-1850, 1940 (reprinted 1968, Noone House, Peterborough, N.H.).
David G. De Long, Helen Searing, and Robert A.M. Stern, eds., American Architecture: Innovation and Tradition, Rizzoli, New York, 1986.
Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, A Guide to Vermont Architecture, reprinted 1996, Montpelier, Vermont.