Small Home Gazette, Fall 2010
Bungalow Stained Glass Windows
Though most Twin Cities bungalows are modest, especially in comparison to those in other areas (Pasadena, Calif., for example), there are plenty of local bungalows with artful details. It’s just that those details are often tucked away inside.
We recently received an email from some folks in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood who asked for help in identifying the artisan who made stained glass windows in five (possibly more) bungalow-era homes.
I have to admit I hadn’t seen anything like this in the Twin Cities before. In fact, I was skeptical at first that the art glass was original to these homes. Some old-house owners in recent years have been adding stained glass windows, and I thought this might be the case.
After looking at a couple of examples, though, I’m convinced the windows are original to the homes. There is no sign that the wood window frames have been altered, and both art glass and frames have a subtle patina that indicates age.
Such windows are often the target of thieves. The owner of one of these homes said that he was recently in a neighborhood duplex that was missing the piano windows in both units. They had been ripped out; the window trim left hanging.
The images on this page give you an idea of the windows’ beauty. If you’re looking to add a bit of artistic detail to your bungalow, a skilled stained glass artist could reproduce these windows.
So, who made them? We don’t know for sure, as stained glass craftspeople rarely signed their work. We emailed photos of the windows to Gaytee Stained Glass (www.gayteestainedglass.com; 612-872-4550), a Minneapolis business that has been around for about a century. Though they couldn’t say for sure, employee Kim Saima responded that they look like the work of Witty Brothers Studio. “They made many very nice landscape windows in Minneapolis and St. Paul during that period,” wrote Saima.
These windows are in the upper unit of a 1923 duplex. The owners say the windows in the lower unit are almost identical. They also say they know of five or six houses in the neighborhood with similar windows.
These windows are in a 1920s bungalow across the alley from the duplex. Although the visual elements are similar to the above set (house, lake and boat), there are differences. Note also that the windows themselves are a different shape—the bungalow windows are rectangular with a vertical orientation; the duplex windows are square.
