shutters

[Gothichome]

Jade, I bet that climb firmed up the bum muscles.

[cgutha]

Thanks for the comments.

SkipW: These are on every window of the West and North all three floors. They are not on the South and East side which is of a decretive brick. (The hotel is on a corner lot where the South and East are the front)
I see no evidence of any shutter-dogs anywhere. A one piece shutter on the third floor might be difficult but effective. Maybe lowered from the roof?

Casey: The fire escape was added later. I believe the building was build without any consideration of escape.

Phil: I do not know that security bars were necessary on the third floor in Velva, North Dakota back in 1906.
Why decorate the back and not the front?

Mick_VT: Looks like it. These cast iron "Hinges" are embedded as part of the brickwork. They take place of a brick. As far as I am concerned, they are upside-down. The top is flat with a narrow opening (1/2"), and it opens to a wider opening (1") on the bottom. If I were to make something for a hinge or a bearing, I would set it so the wide part is on top.

Heartwood: I assume you are looking at an old black and white archive. Yes, My wife also wondered if that one window had the shutter on it. The reflection is different from the other windows.
The widows themselves are double hung and recessed three or four inches into the brickwork. I will get exact measurements tonight.

At this point I assume that these were solid shutters used to help insulate the north and west from winter storms. I cannot imagine a "Drop in" shutter that stayed fixed all winter in a hotel full of guests.

My understanding is that this hotel was one of three in town when the railroad was the primary mode of transportation. Until the late forties, the restaurant was quite a draw where people would come from all over the state to eat, stay overnight, then take the train back home.

ceg

[phil]

a few pics I took in south france last year. The shutters don't have as big of hinges maybe but I thought they might be to hold something similar. most of these might be wood but many are wrought iron. Wow they had a lot of really old and ornate iron work there and it is really common over there to see windows that are fortified like this. even on upper floors.

Phil

[phil]

one more

[phil]

a few more pics

[Eperot]

Not to hijack this thread....but has anyone found a source for (or ever seen for that matter) the type of catches that are double sided? I have two shutters in my attic and have seen more examples as well where the "catch" mechanism is two sided and passes through a hole about 3/4 inch diameter in the lower corner of the shutter itself. There are then two small cast iron catches...one screwed to the siding for when open, and one screwed to the sill for keeping the shutter latched closed. I hope to be able to locate these for when I build shutters for this place as that is what they originally had. Shutter dogs just don't look proper on a victorian IMO.

[cgutha]

I had one guy come by hoping to paint the woodwork and tuck the joints. He thought that the hinge had a holding mechanism as part of the hinge. It sounds as if Eperot might have something similar. It is interesting that there are no pictures of shutters on this building. Of course, pictures in 1906 were more expensive than the selfies of today.
The former owner from the 30's and 40's lives next door. She has no memory of ever seeing shutters on the building.

I also wonder why the shutters were removed so soon after been built.
By the way, my neighbor told me that the fire escape was added in 1910.

Heartwood: A two or three inch thick shutter would make the outside just about flush with the exterior.

Eperot: I would like to see pictures of your hinge.

ceg

[phil]

perhaps they installed the hinges when the wall was built and never used them? any indication of wear in the holes?

[cgutha]

Phil: Good theory. I am not certain how to go about looking for wear on 100 year old cast when they probably were not used for a more than a year.

For those of you who have found pictures of the north east corner, you might have noticed the advertisement for Owl Cigars painted on the side. The hinge on the window still has paint on the top.
I do not know when the painting was placed on the building.

The next question is what was the original intent of the owner, builder and architect. To paraphrase one thread: The neighbor's suggestion that the vinyl shutters were original is probably in error.

What little I have found concerning shutters is that louvered shutters did not come around until after 1906. Then they were mostly in the south for air flow. Solid shutters such as those that Heartwood mentioned are most likely. The purpose was to shield from the winter winds adding to the insolative value of the windows as well as blocking the blizzards. By the way, these windows are roughly 72 inches tall and 33 inches wide. The shutters would be the size of doors.

What to do? The shutters do not exist. They may never have existed, yet I have hinges. There are no pictures. I have no blueprints or plans of the original.

By the way, there is another Berry Hotel in California. I see no evidence of these hinges there.

ceg

[Casey]

There is a local house built in 1820 with original louvered shutters, what are you talking about "not until 1906"?
A normal solid paneled shutter would not have needed wrought iron hinges embedded in the brickwork such as those. A 3" thick shutter? Maybe at a artillery range. What kept these monsters open and closed? If they flapped in the wind they would do a lot of damage. Did they have a crane to install them?
I have an idea: they were moorings for the Graf Zeppelin! It must be!
Casey