Window Woman to appear on 'This Old House'

Dec. 27—AMESBURY — Window Woman of New England's work restoring windows at the former Centre School in Dracut will be featured on an episode of "This Old House," airing Thursday.

The 1898 school building, which slowly fell into disrepair over the years, is being developed into affordable housing for veterans by the Coalition for a Better Acre.

Alison Hardy, owner of Window Woman of New England on Elm Street in Amesbury, happened to be watching "This Old House" recently when she realized she was working on the same project being discussed on the episode.

Hardy, who did a segment for the Emmy-winning home improvement series in 2011, reached out to the producers to let them know she was restoring the windows and would be happy to discuss her part in the project for the show, and they agreed.

"The building is really cool. It had just been abandoned for so long and nobody could figure out what to do with it," she said, explaining that the school is in the middle of a residential district, so converting it to housing made the most sense.

The building features 50 windows and they are large, Hardy said, noting that the upper and lower sashes each weigh about 24 pounds, "which is a lot as you're trying to lift it over your head."

Hardy enjoys talking about window restoration and educating the public on how different windows were designed to function.

"It's always fun when something as obscure as window restoration can get national TV coverage," she said. "You just don't think about it. When anybody says 'windows,' the word 'replacement' comes to mind."

For Hardy, it's important to get people to see the other option, which is restoration.

As explained on her website, maintaining the original windows of a building is not just about preserving the character and charm of a home; they can also have a lot longer lifespan than many people are willing to believe.

Though some people worry that restoration will cost more than replacement, that's not usually the case, according to Window Woman.

With New England's rich history, Hardy has worked on windows from multiple centuries. Her cutoff for accepting work is typically windows from the 1960s.

The oldest windows she has worked on, or at least for which she knew the year for certain, were on the Spalding House in Lowell, which was built in 1760.

To learn more about Window Woman of New England, visit www.window-woman.com.

In many locations, "This Old House" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on PBS. For a full schedule of local listings, visit http://thisoldhouse.com/tvschedule.

Full episodes are also available online the Sunday night after each episode's original airdate at http://thisoldhouse.com/watchtoh. Recent episodes can also be viewed on PBS.org, PBS digital apps, The Roku Channel and "This Old House" app.

Window Woman will appear in the next issue of "This Old House" magazine in January.

Staff reporter Heather Alterisio can be reached via email at halterisio@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3149. Follow her on Twitter @HeathAlt.

Staff reporter Heather Alterisio can be reached via email at halterisio@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3149. Follow her on Twitter @HeathAlt.