Giving old windows new life

In an expansive workshop on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Alison Hardy-a.k.a. the Window Woman of New England—and her small team of skilled workers are meticulously restoring dozens of weathered, century-old sashes. This Old House stops by for a visit

- JON GOREY

When Alison Hardy started her window-restoration business back in 2003, it was a one-woman show based out of her garage. Kevin O'Connor was one of her first clients. Hardy's task: to rehab dozens of ornate yet inoperable windows, including 20-over-2 double-hungs and some arched sashes, from the 1893 Queen Anne that Kevin-who had not yet been tapped to host This Old House—was renovating with his wife. “Alison really is an artisan,” he says today of the masterful work she did. "Those intricate windows added so much charm to the house. Seeing them go back in completely restored and functional—it was a spectacular moment."

Hardy found her calling in restoration after she and her husband bought a 1782 farmhouse in the late 1990s. After two centuries of wear, the windows were drafty and rotting in spots; many had broken sash cords or were painted shut. Her modest goal at first: “I just wanted to get the windows to open.” She borrowed woodworking tools from her husband, picked up detailed reference books such as Working Windows by Terence Meany and Repairing Old and Historic Windows by the New York Landmarks Conservancy-this was many years before YouTube-and slowly, over several months, taught herself to fix them.

Today, she operates out of a 5,000-square-foot workshop in Amesbury, Massachusetts, where she works on more than 1,500 windows each year. She has trained a dozen-strong team to help, their backgrounds as varied as the windows they coax back to life.

STEPS TO RESTORATION