These Five Homes Get a Fresh Outlook With Custom Windows and Doors
Partner Story
Whether part of a new build or a gut renovation, natural light is the great equalizer. It can determine the entire mood of a space, turning even the drabbest of digs into a brighter and lighter escape.
Despite light’s transformative power, standardized window sizes remain a mainstay in home improvement centers. While there’s nothing wrong with the ease and convenience of stock windows, we know that one size doesn’t (and shouldn’t) always fit all.
From a charming seaside revamp to a wood-and-glass modernist’s dream, these five homes highlight how custom windows and doors can elevate an already standout home into a truly one-of-a-kind one.
Once you scroll through the "before" pictures of this 1960s home in San Diego, it’ll make this renovation by Will & Fotsch Architects all the more impressive. The homeowners were initially attracted to the midcentury property because of its "prime location and a spectacular view," but quickly realized that it needed a near-complete overhaul in order to meet the needs of their active, modern lifestyle. The most significant transformation was rearranging the floor plan to open up the living space with a great room. Principal Andy Fotsch reframed the great room—adding 14 inches to the overall height in order to accommodate 8-foot-tall Kolbe multi-slide doors with transom windows above—to highlight the home’s original selling point: the view.
The original living room had a screened-in porch, which was removed and converted into a large deck that connects the kitchen and dining room to the great room—extending the living space and strengthening the home’s indoor/outdoor connection. The black extruded aluminum exterior of the Kolbe VistaLuxe Collection used throughout the home elegantly outlines each opening to match the home’s contemporary style, while accentuating the views. A dark ebony stain was chosen for the interior wood frames—as seen here on the multi-slide doors—to give a "warmth and dimension that relates to the home’s casual coastal feel," explains Fotsch.
After years of searching for their coastal New England dream home, Alex and Nicole Bender stumbled across a 1970s diamond in the rough from which they knew they could create an up-to-date dwelling for their family of five. They envisioned a contemporary space with a calming ambiance and a strong connection with their lush natural surroundings. The resulting renovation, with warm, white oak wide-plank flooring, easily flows from indoor to outdoor spaces. To create the overall airy atmosphere for entertaining and enjoying all of New England’s vivid seasons (including the harsh Northeast winters), they turned to the VistaLuxe Collection by Kolbe Windows & Doors. The bright family room offers unobstructed water views through a large sliding door and casement windows, while clerestory windows illuminate the beamed ceiling.
The kitchen features a 10-foot marble island and large windows to frame picturesque views of the waterfront landscape in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Also adding to the bright and airy feeling are two large picture windows, which the homeowners selected instead of upper cabinetry.
The Wood Screen House by architect Michael Goorevich is a Nashville home that lives in the beautiful dichotomy between opacity and transparency, mixing wood screen walls with floor-to-ceiling windows and doors to create something truly special. Wanting to expose as much glass as possible, general contractor Shawn Keen installed Kolbe VistaLuxe WD LINE windows throughout the house. The low-profile stiles and rails maximize the amount of glass shown. "The stark contrast of the stunning Kolbe windows against the Kebony slats warrants a sense of elegance that you don’t often see," says Keen. (Kebony is a naturally modified wood that performs extremely well in Nashville’s humid environment.)
The primary facade uses wood slats to create a privacy screen between the street and the private world of the house. Frosted glass was also used strategically alongside the Kolbe windows in the bathroom on the back elevation of the home to allow light in but create privacy as well.
Pierre-Henri Hoppenot, founder and principal of Brooklyn-based Studio PHH, named this project "La Clairiere"—French for "the clearing" or "the glade"—as a nod to the light-filled gathering space that is the heart of the home. Two monolithic brick volumes anchor the home on either side, while the glass-enclosed central volume links these two masses, becoming a spatial void through which nature can permeate.
To execute the design vision for the jewel box-like central space, Hoppenot turned to Kolbe for large-format glazing solutions. From Kolbe’s Ultra Series, the 5-panel Lift & Slide door connects the public space to the exterior. When open, the barrier between outside and in disappears, inviting the landscape to become an intimate part of this all-important central zone.
Set on a six-acre wooded, lakeside site in eastern Minnesota, the Cloud Forest House draws its inspiration—and name—from an unlikely source more than 3,000 miles away in Ecuador. The owners were originally attracted to the immersive natural surroundings of the 1990s property because it reminded them of their travels to the cloud forest in the South American country, but after 10 years, they were ready to explore improvements to meet the needs of their active young family of five. Their priorities included expansive window views, a more spacious floor plan, and a stylistic facelift. The renovation—by Sara and Jeremy Imhoff of Imprint Architecture and Design, LLC—retained the existing footprint of the main living spaces, added a new primary bedroom suite, and relocated the garage.
The newly-revamped great room gives the impression of entire walls of glass by incorporating Kolbe Windows & Doors’ VistaLuxe AL LINE, and combining lift-and-slide doors with large direct sets and clerestory windows in a single configuration. Operable windows are placed strategically throughout the house for natural ventilation.
Find your local Kolbe dealer at kolbewindows.com to help you choose the right windows and doors for your project.
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