In American

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...

, a witch window (also known as a Vermont window, among other names) is a window (usually a double-hung

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

, occasionally a single-sided

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

) placed in the gable-end wall of a houseGeorge Nash, '' Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes''. The Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut, 2003, p. 8. and rotated approximately 1/8 of a turn (45 degrees) from the vertical, leaving it diagonal, with its long edge parallel to the roof slope.Howard Frank Mosher,
A Stranger in the Kingdom
'', Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 1989 (republished 2002), p. 46. This technique allows a builder to fit a full-sized window into the long, narrow wall space between two adjacent roof lines, where a window would not otherwise fit. Witch windows are found almost exclusively in or near the U.S. state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, generally in the central and northern parts of the state.Justin Falango,
Architectural Details: New England
", Dover, Kohl & Partners, May 26, 2011; accessed 2012.04.23. They are principally installed in

farmhouses FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Member ...

from the 19th century, and can be found less frequently in new construction.

Etymology

The name "witch window" appears to come from a

folk belief In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples o ...

that

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

es cannot fly their broomsticks through the tilted windows, although it seems unlikely that the tale was taken seriously. The windows are also known as "coffin windows"; it is unclear if they were used for removing a coffin from the second floor (avoiding a narrow staircase), or if the odd placement on the wall were reminiscent of a coffin. Either explanation seems far-fetched. The windows are also known as "Vermont windows" for their distribution and as "sideways" or "lazy windows" for their orientation. Coffin window diagonal clapboards

Construction

Dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

s are unusual in Vermont, particularly in older construction; windows are mostly placed in walls. When a house is expanded, for example with a kitchen wing or an attached shed, there may be very little wall space available in the gable end in which to put a window, which may be the only window available for an upper floor room (if there is no dormer—adding a dormer to an existing roof is problematic, as it involves puncturing the roof membrane). The solution is to rotate the window until its long edge is parallel to the nearby roof line, to better maximize the space available for a window. Thus, not only is the window area (and thus incoming light and ventilation) maximized, but building or buying a custom window is avoided.Kathryn Eddy.
Building Blocks: Exploring witch windows
''

Barre Montpelier Times Argus The ''Barre Montpelier Times Argus'' is a daily newspaper serving the capital region of Vermont. The circulation area includes Washington, Orange, Lamoille, Addison, Caledonia, and parts of Chittenden, Franklin, Orleans and Windsor coun ...

. July 30, 2012.Amy Kolb Noyes,
What's the History of Vermont's 'Witch Windows'?
",

Vermont Public Radio Vermont Public Co. is the public broadcaster serving the U.S. state of Vermont. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio studios are located in Colchester, with television studios in Winooski. It operates two statewide radio services aligned wit ...

, July 12, 2017. An alternative explanation for the orientation of the window is that getting at least one corner of a window up as far as possible in the interior of the house allows hot air (which rises to the top of the room) to escape on summer afternoons.Vermont--diagonal "witch windows" in houses
"The Straight Dope". However, this reasoning seems suspect, as Vermont is not as hot as many other locations, where the windows are not ubiquitous. If heat escape were the goal, diagonal windows could be placed in other walls as well. The slanted orientation of the window can complicate the placement of the

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...

(such as clapboards) on the wall in which the window is hung, because if the siding is horizontal, it will meet the window frame at an acute angle, complicating both the cutting of the siding and the waterproofing of the frame-siding joint. One solution is to orient all of the siding on the wall so that it is parallel with the window frame.

In popular culture

* The Weird Window Brewing company, based in

South Burlington, Vermont South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292, making it the sec ...

, was named for witch windows. One of the windows is depicted in the brewery's logo.Weird Window Brewing
, Vermont Brewers Association; accessed 2021.08.16.

References

External links

Discussion of installing a Vermont window in an existing wall
Architectural elements Windows Vernacular architecture in Vermont Superstitions of the United States American witchcraft {{Superstitions

Etymology

Construction

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links