Built in 1905, our house is typical of the neighborhood. It's called a Bel-Etage, having a slightly elevated main floor, and a half-subterranean cellar. The bricks are enameled and there are details in Belgian bluestone.
The windows are very detailed and interesting, but also very old, drafty and rotten in parts. They will have to be replaced. Since we are in a historic district, changes to the facade have to be approved by the commune's (borough's) building department. The process is pretty informal. We sent in some pictures of the house, and plans of the new windows, and they told us to go ahead. The new windows should generally match the look of the old, but unfortunately, the beautiful piano moldings are beyond our budget to duplicate. The other disappointment is that the beautiful existing brass interior hardware will not be compatible with the new mechanisms. We investigated the possibility of just putting new double-glazed glass into the old frames. There is a company here in Brussels that specializes in just that. It's much cheaper, and keeps all the old details, but the poor state of some of the frames precluded it.
I'm waiting to hear from the window company as to when they will be installed, but it should be in the next couple of weeks.
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