Charming Window Style Hinges on Hoppers

typingmonkey Me wantey!

Amy Renea I love the huge picture window hopper - lovely!

evelyn How do you reach them to open or close?

hamburgdweller38 I live in Germany where these types of windows are the standard in all houses. However, depending on the position of the handle , they can open completely inward from the side, or they can just tilt open at the top. It makes them suitable as glass doors, too (e.g., opening onto a terrace). They are incredibly practical!

Charles Wallace Evelyn, usually they have a hook-on-pole to allow access to the high windows. Take a look at the kitchen photo and you will see the corresponding loops there!

vabosarge I live in a hundred year old house with these windows above every door , transoms . They have really cool brass hinges and an adjustable lever mounted on the door jamb. Love them!!!

Francesca I had a home that was built in 1853 and there were 'hopper' windows above each door on the first and second floor (because of the height of the walls. I loved the idea. Also, I would love it in any house I have. Of course, that rids the windows of screens, which means that all sorts of little beasties would get in.

CoorItalia Rachel, nice article but you completely ignore Tilt and Turn windows which offer you the advantages of both casement AND hoppers. HamburgDweller mentions them but I just took these two photos of one we have in our showroom - One shows the casement in normal operation. The advantage is full aperture and you can clean them from the inside (no standing on ladders). twist the handle further and the window opens as a Hopper. It is a lovely solution and the additional hardware does not add all that much to the cost.

kennedytarheel where did they hide the pole to open and shut the windows!

scarbowcow We have the 'tilt and turn' windows here in Poland, too, and I HATE them! Opening a window like a door into the room means you can't have anything on the windowsills (like plants) without moving them off the sills (and putting them...somewhere...) when you want the windows open full (like doors). They catch on sheer curtains and rip them. If you plan on having them full open at any time, all furniture has to be much further away from the windows than typical American windows: you have to have room for the 'door' of the window to open and room to pass by it when it's open. I've got one over my sofa in my flat, and unless I want the sofa two feet more into the room (which is too small for that), I just have to 'watch my back' whenever the window is open or I'll do myself an injury while sitting on the sofa. Just terribly inconvenient. My windows are very large, and there's no cross-ventilation in this flat, so in the kitchen, I need to have them open all summer long, which means the two feet at the end of my small kitchen are unusable: I'd be running into the windows all the time. Fine if you have a spacious house and use them like French doors, maybe, but in a small space they just get in the way.

You can either use the 'hopper' and get virtually no circulation (especially in a place with no cross-ventilation, as most post-WWII buildings are in central Europe) or you can open them like doors and have them jutting out into the room. I can't open them like doors 'part-way' to get 'just enough' air because they will blow full open no matter how much you open them. If it's windy outside, and they are open the 'hopper' way, they bang open and closed with every gust of air, unlike traditional American windows that slide up and down or side-to-side. I really don't see how they vent hot air, since hot air rises: how does the hot air go up to the top of the window and 'fall' down and out? How does cooler air outside rise UP to come in at the top of the windows? I suppose they might work in a well-designed building, but here in Poland, in the Bauhaus-nightmare apartment blocks, they are inconvenient, space-wasting and don't provide any real air circulation.

I often fantasize about making my fortune selling American-style sliding windows here, so you can adjust them anywhere from slightly open to full open, getting exactly as much air as you want, and without having to take everything off the windowsills in order to operate them or having to move your sheer curtains out of the way to avoid ripping them. Really, these 'tilt and turn' windows are the stupidest design I have ever seen. The only good anyone has ever said about them is that you can clean them easily. But since I clean them far less often than I open and close them, I'd rather have a bit more trouble cleaning the windows and skip all the hassle of dealing with them on a day-to-day basis. Horrible design.

hamburgdweller38 Scarbowcow, I can certainly see how the 'tilt-and-turn' windows would be impractical in a warm climate. In a cooler climate, they are quite versatile, and we have found it not too complicated to design the room furnishings to provide some access to keeping the windows fully open, although yes, it's somewhat inconvenient (we are more likely to keep the tilt-and-turn doors fully open). And some people do install screens over them, although Germans put a higher premium on a clean, unobstructed view to the outside than they do on keeping out critters. I would be interested to see if American-style sliding windows would catch on over here. The German moneyed classes love to snap up American decor concepts, so it could be a winner..

judyg WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE AWAY FROM HOME AND THAT UNEXPECTED SUMMER STORM BLOWS THROUGH? WOULDN'T A CRANK-OUT STYLE BE A BETTER CHOICE? OR DOES THE HOPPER (I DO HAVE TO GIGGLE HERE) WORK IN A DOWNPOUR?

CoorItalia judyg: Hoppers work in a storm because they are hinged on the bottom and ONLY open inwards. - so water will run down the window and fall outside. The alternatives are called awnings which open outwards and are hinged on top. The offer the same ventilation as hoppers but are a bit more complicate to operate if they are high up. As mentioned elsewhere - you can open a hopper with a hook on a pole and is quick. Most awnings, instead tend to be a crank system which many find more cumbersome

judyg THANK YOU FOR THE INFO. I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT THE HOPPER WINDOW WHEN I BUILT MY HOME. I HAVE 22 OF 36 CLERESTORY WINDOWS WHICH I CANNOT OPEN BECAUSE THEY CAN'T BE REACHED WITHOUT A 20' EXTENSION LADDER. LUCKILY, WE HAVE AIR CONDITIONING.

Bowden Carroll Design Someone might have already mentioned that these windows can be a pain if you want to use any kind of window treatment to cover them. If anyone has successfully figured out how to use blinds, shutters, curtains or anything else besides window film for privacy, let me know!

chrisntine These are so pretty. But I'm wondering how to keep these windows securely locked if you use a pole to push/pull? I realize it's less of an issue if the windows so high it needs a pole and so less likely a burglar will try to climb so high. But I still want all my windows lockable. Can you do it with those that use the pole to open/close?