As I’ve shared the exterior of our home, I’ve been asked a few times about the panels under some of our windows, so I thought I would write a post about them. Let me start by saying that I’m not a tremendous fan of apron panels under windows. I don’t mind the ones on my house, but I would prefer just to have taller windows. While they were an intentional and original design feature of the house, they give the appearance that original larger windows were once replaced with shorter windows, and panels were added to fill the gap. In some homes, that might be the case, but in our house, this detail is original. It can also be found on many other homes in our neighborhood, so it must’ve been a trend in the late 1960s to early 1970s.
I don’t know with 100% certainty why the architect of this Better Homes & Gardens house plan made this design decision, but I have a guess. My guess is the architect aimed to maintain a standard window size throughout most of the home for practicality and cost reasons, while also introducing visual variation. The addition of the panel aprons makes some windows visually appear taller, giving them greater architectural impact. Other windows either don’t have the apron panels or are arranged in pairs to create the appearance of one wide window. It’s a pretty clever way to balance cost and design.
These aprons were replaced at some point and are rotting, so we’re having them rebuilt to match the original panels (like one under the garage window) that are still in good condition.
There are two windows along the back of the house that have apron panels, which were also replaced and are now rotting. When we had new windows installed last week, they created new panels to match the window, and they look so much better!
And how they look now…
A blog post about the new windows will be coming soon, but as you can see, they look amazing! The gable and vent will also get a fresh coat of paint soon. We were going to do it ourselves, but Jeff and I weighed out the projects on our list and decided this was one we would prefer to hire out. We’ve painted everything else ourselves, which saved us a lot of money, but we felt it was wise to hire out the two tallest gables. It’s going to look so sharp when it’s all done.
9 Responses
I didn’t know about these, but they look great on your home, and the new ones look wonderful. I didn’t even know the name.
I agree about the taller windows, (always) but this is pretty and of course your upkeep is impeccable.
I have watched your work over the years, and remember when yardwork was not your favorite, but I see your personality in your improvement, as in everything. Complete and thorough. An admirable trait.
The new apron and windows look really nice. For whatever reason, I never noticed the aprons under your windows until you wrote this post. We have replaced some of our old 90’s siding a while back that rotted to Hardy board and love it. We have some other areas that now need to be replaced as well.
We just had some overgrown crepe myrtles cut back recently that a neighbor planted years ago that have now grown on our side and were hitting our garden shed. Don’t get me wrong, I love crepe myrtles, but when I have to pay to get a neighbor’s overgrown trees cut back it does kind of peeve me. I guess this is the price I pay for enjoying the trees, but homeowners need to think before they plant close to property lines because it can become someone else’s problem in a few years.
In the past in Europe, a long time ago in Georgian times, those aprons held screens or shutters, if a storm hit. It could very well be a way to create a European look? I am happy you could replace the rot. It looks beautiful.
What side of your home is your garage as you look at it from the curb are they on the right or left ? Will you pls take a pic so we can see ? Tks
Window boxes for flowers and seasonal decorations.
I had those same type of panels on a house my husband and I previously owned. They also rotted out. Never again!
Your house looks great!
Since you were having the windows replaced did you think about removing the panels and getting bigger windows?
And cannot see your driveway from any of these pictures? Very strange never see any vehicles parked. I guess I’m very confused as to where your garage is or maybe you do not have a garage ? ? But you must have vehicles somewhere ??
Living in a HOA, my remodel budget was limited to the interior so window size or position was not changeable. So I did window “aprons” inside, except I put them on top to visually raise the ceiling. Along with raising the curtains it really did the trick!