Volume XXIII 
January, 1913 
Number i 
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Although there is little regularity in the size of the windows in this house, yet their distribution and arrangement are such as to result in a pleasing 
sense of balance. The shutters of the second-story room on the right make the whole appear as wide as the triple window below 
That Window Problem 
THE TYPES OF WINDOWS—THE QUESTION OF DESIGN AND UTILITY BOTH 
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE—THE PRACTICAL CASEMENT AND ITS ADAPTABILITY 
by Draper Williamson 
Photographs by the Author and Others 
T HERE seem to be two classes of individuals among the 
house-builders, and their characteristics are differentiated by 
their views on windows. 
The extremes are repre¬ 
sented this way. One 
seeks to build a glass 
house, greedy of sunlight, 
and the other, hoarding- 
privacy, lives in an atmos¬ 
phere of shadow that is 
just made apparent by a 
few slits in the wall. 
Somewhere between lies 
the golden mean. So let’s 
look into this window 
business a bit to find 
wherein each can help us 
with our particular prob¬ 
lem. Three things one 
must ever keep in mind: 
i. The windows must 
give proper light and air. j n mo dern leaded casements keep up 
2. The windows must suit the spirit of the old work 
the room. 3. The windows must suit the house. These are essential. 
Now, it is often a difficult matter to reconcile these three things, 
but it must be done, else 
your house design will be 
a failure. Take the right- 
hand house at the top of 
page 13. for instance; no¬ 
tice what a hideous hodge¬ 
podge we have of miscel¬ 
laneous bays, casements, 
dormers and so on. No 
doubt these fit well 
enough into the interior 
scheme, but the exterior 
is utterly hopeless. And 
then compare the left- 
hand house, in the same 
picture; note the symmet¬ 
rical, well-spaced win¬ 
dows ; see how perfectly 
they are proportioned to 
the design of the building. 
This English house pleasingly com¬ 
bines casements and mullioned bays 
Yet, I’ll venture thev fit 
(”) 
