Stained Glass Window

This blog entry will skip around a bit as we're essentially complete and I'm trying to document what's transpired for others who may wish to go down this odd road.









The original barn had an opening that you can see at the top of this first picture. If you look closely, you can see odd shaped aluminum siding at the top of the frame with a bar protruding. That's where the original hook could move hay or tobacco in and out of the barn. (More on the hook later!)
A feature I wanted to add originally was a stained glass window approximately 8 ft. across. We also got quotes on 6 1/2 ft windows from MW and others, but they were kind of plain. As I explored the stain glass option, it became pretty clear that I'd have more of a church look than I wanted. CG&D Studios in Raleigh worked with us and I stumbled (literally) across a sample of dichroic glass which had some rather odd color qualities depending on the angle at which it was viewed.

The glass was originally ordered in early November and supposed to be ready by the end of December. All things in construction are apparently on a Mayan Calendar from the 5th Millennium or something because time has no meaning.

The pictures will reflect the opening left by the framers and how the glass was finally installed. From the outside the glass had a yello/green look (my wife called it Mello-Yellow.) From the road, the glass appears to have a touch of auburn and from the inside it has a Caribbean blue and purple hue. And the amount of light around also affects the color.

Unfortunately the one section of the glass was chipped and had to be repaired. If you clicked on the link above you'll have discovered (as I did late) that Dichroic glass is always unique, so the new replacement did not match.

Long story short, CG&D found the original piece and were able to cut another piece from it, fix it and it looks great! And the Spanish cedar frame actually matches. The other long story was the conversion from 8ft to 6 1/2 ft, but that was simply cost. The new window shows up great and can simply be attributed to my eccentricity.

The final picture is really how the window looks NOW. They'll be more updated photos later in this blog, but essentially the colors are right and the frame is wonderful. We'll see how well we can take care of this glass over time.