You've got the timeline correct Mr. Fridge, the company was owned by Serious Materials for a short time before Mr. Begin purchased the assets when Serious was going out of business, and then restored the company name back to it's longstanding name. The Alpen name was founded in 1981 by Robert Clarke, who helped pioneer the use suspended film in commercial window and glass applications, and still consults with Alpen to this day at 80 years young! As the oldest longest standing fabricator of suspended film technology, we are proud of our heritage but have also continued to innovate as evidenced by our commercial growth in ThinTriple and ThinQuad glass manufacturing, which has gained a huge share of our production. Sorry about the "like" on our own post, clearly a mistake. You have an awesome day, hopefully you get some good cheerful sunshine over the weekend! Happy to speak further offline, just email info@thinkalpen.com, many thanks.

You know, you might benefit from cross posting in the building a house and decor forums. Lots of folks there who might be able to give you some great advise.

Some follow up, if anyone is interested. I talked to the Kolbe dealer again. He said their prices are close to Marvin's and not to choose Kolbe for price. A bigger difference might be the dealer mark-up than the product itself. That dealer is a 45 min away and unknown to my contractor. There are also mixed reviews on yelp. My contractor is getting bids for Marvin from two local stores that are reliable. The one I met with yesterday was great (and came recommended by my architect and interior designer). Fun fact: since Marvin makes all windows to order, there isn't really an up-charge for a "custom" size. (I'm trying to match the windows in the front of my 1940s bungalow and some the dimensions are non-standard ). The Marvin book calls out sizes in 6" increments, but they can make windows to any spec, to 1/8".

What will that do for the outside? Maybe just add side drapes at the same level as the palladium horizontal to trick the eye.