Here is one set of east windows in the main room:

And the same from outside:

I'm hoping to open up the view by replacing the balcony's solid knee wall with an open railing, and maybe having the arched opening surrounded not by solid walls but by fretwork.

Here's the south window of the main room:

The bottom of the window is quite high; about 4' above the floor. So you'd have to stand on a stepladder to get a view out of those (and peer around the chimney). Not much hope there.

The north and west walls just have doors to other rooms.

There is one more east window. This is the one I wanted to ask about (the others were just for context). It's bugged me ever since we bought the house. I call it the "angry red pause symbol" window:

PO in the sixties took a stained glass course, broke out some of the muntins, and put in the pause sign. "What were they thinking" line item 864. My desk is next to this window, and the blocked view is really driving me nuts now, so much so I took out the window to see how I felt:

SO MUCH BETTER!

You have to understand, this is coming from a person who, when house shopping, had to open the curtains and raise the shades of every window in a house before I could even begin to "parse" it and figure out if I wanted to buy it. For me, a blocked window feels like a bag over my head.

Of course, that's just a clear fixed storm in the picture, and with winter coming, I have to put the window back in. But I have Terry Meany's Working Windows book, so I know just enough to be dangerous (just kidding, it's actually a great book). So, I plan to take out some or all of the stained glass and replace with clear panes. (of salvaged old clear window glass) Question is, how many panes should I change?

I could take out the pause symbol and the three blue squares between them, leaving a 3 x 3 clear square. That might suggest taking out 2 x 2 center squares (actually rectangles) on the two side bay windows, although they seem to have the original glass. Plus the colors are just better.

Or I could take out all the color from the center window, and leave the two sides intact.

Or (dh's favorite) I could take out all the color everywhere, and have a clear bay view.

Here is the window from outside:

The only thing I would miss if I took the color away would be how it looks from outside when backlit at night.

Any advice, opinions?

I usually want to preserve the older details in my house, but this one has been 1. tampered with and 2. is so not working for me.

Interestingly, the original blueprints call for a railing on that balcony; I'll try to scan. I have photos of the house before it was sided showing a solid knee wall though--perhaps a time- or cost-cutting measure.

Your point about keeping original details made me suddenly wonder--is any of this stained glass original? Now I've got to pour over the old photos, and maybe even call the po's--luckily we are on good terms, even if we don't see eye to eye stylistically.

Thanks!

But if the glass was originally clear, would you vote for a return to all clear, or one of the other options I listed?

The trouble is that subsequent owners often don't have a clue about architecture or design but do firmly know what they like.

As the OP suggests, I think the "room with(out) a view" is precisely one of those latter dubious improvements.

But as much as I value preservation and stewardship, I'm also very guilty of doing things my way: for example, the dining room is used as a living room, and half of the double-parlor is used as a dining room. This is because the plan dining room faces east, and I like to enjoy the daylight as long as I can. The room we use as a dining room faces south, with a bay window; it is flooded with light all day, and a nice glow in the evening. Both rooms are the same number of steps from the kitchen.

But in questions like this, where the changes are harder to reverse or restore, I like to bring it to this forum before I move ahead.

I'm leaning toward clear middles with a single-grid width of color around the border. I have seen other houses around here with windows done that way.

Some are. Many aren't. Like the ones friends have stripped to the frames that were obviously banged together from scavenged scraps a century earlier.

I have no compunction in demolishing mass-produced 20th Century homes.

I am as appalled and puzzled as the next person by homeowners who scrap solid wood doors for hollow mahogony units and foot high baseboards for two inch poplar and smash cast iron soakers to make room for thin steel tubs.

Even assuming the windows are original, this is your home and a space you use, not an museum. I don't think you are beholden to the windows because they are original. And just because they're orginal doesn't mean it was a great idea to begin with. We change our old houses all the time--indoor plumbing comes to mind.

Can you replace the window or windows with what you want and leave the old ones in tact for a future owner to do with what he or she wants?

Acc0406, thanks for the validation. It's funny, if the view were lousy, or blocked by an adjacent building, the stained glass windows would be great. I wish I could find another place to use them--will have to think about that one. I wonder if most houses got stained glass windows where light with privacy was desired, or a bad view was being blocked? That would be an interesting thread.

And I also agree with Worthy, that there is nothing sacred about an OLD house just because it was that way when you found it. Some homes are historic, but most are not. And the OP stated that a PO liked to do stained glass work, and made changes in the windows of the room currently her office.

One possible option for changing the glass panes is to put the colored rows of glass into the openings across the TOP of each window. I note also that there are some panes that are clear but wavy finished. Those could go down the sides of the two outer windows. In the rest, I'd do clear maybe bevelled panes.

As far as the demilune balcony, Someone may have had a baby or young child, and the solid perimeter was safer. I would definitely think of putting an open railing there. And if it is deep enough, how about a nice old fashioned macrame hammock or a bistro table and chairs and a wicker chair and ottoman....I think it would be period authentic that way.