Windows & Doors
Doors, Windows, and Shutters
Traditional-style windows, shutters and doors–architecture’s jewelry–serve as warm welcomers, inviting people to come inside and visit.
Here are some of the companies that are crafting the classics.
Architectural Components
Working out of a mid-1800s mill in Montague, Massachusetts, Architectural Components crafts custom and reproduction wood architectural millwork, primarily windows, exterior doors, and doorways for historic preservation projects.
“Windows and doors are so critical to the look and feel of a building and can make or break the restoration, so we take our part in that process very seriously,” says President Chris James, who bought the company, which was established in the 1970s, in 2015.
James, a mechanical engineer and woodworker, has worked for more than three decades in manufacturing fields, including the aerospace industry, experience, he says, that “taught me a lot about manufacturing to tight tolerances and high-quality standards.”
“We always want to know the history of the building we are working on to understand the period that we should be reproducing and what styles best fit that project’s goals,” he says. “We are often asked by architects to help them make decisions regarding the design details–glass specification, muntin styles and widths, door sticking or molding profiles, sash balancing systems, and hardware-on windows and doors.”
Rockwood Door & Millwork
A second-generation family-owned company, Rockwood Door & Millwork works with builders, architects and designers, to craft custom wood doors.
Founded in 1986, Rockwood is based in the Amish country of Ohio, and many of its craftsmen learned the art of fine woodworking from their fathers and grandfathers.
“From special materials to creative engineering, we bring new potential to architectural doors and millwork,” says Vince Troyer, head of business development. “We apply our expertise to solve unique design challenges and meet the most demanding aesthetic, quality and performance requirements.”
The team at Rockwood loves connecting with clients and coming up with solutions that take projects to the next level.
Seekircher Steel Window Corp.
The repository for the world’s largest collection of vintage steel casement windows and doors, Seekircher Steel Window Corp. restores and sells them for use in prestigious projects around the country and also does custom fabrication work for select clients.
“One of my favorite parts of what I do is incorporating vintage steel windows from our collection into projects,” says President Todd Seekircher, whose father, John, established the company nearly a half century ago. “I love the process of picking styles, configurations and sizes that work for people’s home additions, renovations, or interior applications such as office enclosures, wine rooms, or room dividers. The restored windows and doors add such a unique aesthetic.”
Based in Peekskill, New York, the company has worked with many of the nation’s top designers and architects, including Alan Wanzenberg, Steven Gambrel, and Peter Pennoyer.
“We generally have around seven to eight employees, which allows us to be deliberate about the types of projects we take on and provide exacting personal involvement and attention to each of our customers, whether it’s a $1,000 or $500,000 project,” Seekircher says.
Shuttercraft
Known for supplying competitively priced custom interior and exterior wood shutters for historic homes, including the White House, Shuttercraft works in partnership with several family mills in the United States.
“My father, Dwight Carlson, started the company in 1986,” says Colleen Murdock, who took over the business in 2006. “He couldn’t find real wood shutters with movable louvers for his home’s exterior. He found a U.S. mill to make them, and soon partnered to form a long-term relationship to offer authentic shutter styles nationwide, adding full painting services and custom options.”
The company’s showroom, which is in Madison, Connecticut, draws customers from as far away as New York and Boston.
“We are able to match existing shutter profiles for restoration and replacement projects,” she says, adding that her employees are like family and that some have been with the company for over two decades. “We also offer hard-to-find interior traditional bifold movable louvers in all sizes, along with plantation shutters and Colonial raised and Shaker panels.”
Shuttercraft prides itself on its customer service and depth of knowledge.
“We assist customers with measuring, hardware applications for functional shutters, shutter types that include authentic movable louvers, fixed louvers, raised and flat panels, board and batten, arches, capping, and endless cutouts,” Murdock says.
The Cooper Group
“What does a historic building need from its windows? That’s the question we are constantly asking,” says Brian Cooper, president and CEO of Cooper Historical Windows and Liberty Restoration Glass. “Through extensive research and development, we have found and established emerging technologies for a more energy-efficient window that will not jeopardize the intended aesthetic of a historic window.”
The Cooper Group, which is based in Connecticut, specializes in new thermally broken steel windows in hot rolled, cold rolled, stainless steel, and bronze and in historical, high-performance glass units that feature the company’s proprietary Liberty Restoration Glass.
The family-owned company, which has about 40 employees and more than 45 years of construction experience, has developed a restoration glass that is flat, enabling it to build single-pane glass and insulated glass units to what Cooper says are “the very highest standards” that match most cylinder glass from 1800 to 1920.
The Cooper Group’s historical windows, which have Accoya wood sashes that do not shrink or swell or require frequent repainting, feature water-based finishes.
“Accoya is a renewable plantation pine,” Cooper says. “It will last outdoors for 50 years with no finish on it.”
The company’s steel windows have a true thermal break in the frames and R-10 Plus energy ratings.
The Cooper Group can directionally tune windows on every wall of the building to control solar heat and maximize reflection of heat back into the building to lower heating and air-conditioning costs, a technology that Cooper says is not being utilized across the window market.
“Restoration is not only about the preservation of historic buildings but about the preservation of the craftsmanship that is required to save these significant structures,” Cooper says. “For over 40 years, the possibility of breathing new life into structures that continue to exist in our landscape centuries after they were built has been my calling. Our focus is to preserve history, be architecturally respectful, and build windows to last the test of time, and second, to preserve the craft by passing on those skills to the next generation.” TB
