Older buildings especially often contain sash windows. These windows are known for their efficiency of air flow and are ideal for cooling down buildings in warm weather. This is due to the effect created if you open the top and bottom sashes equally, allowing warmer air to escape from the top and cooler air to be drawn in at the bottom. Did you ever wonder though who invented the sash window and what is its origins.

The English inventor and scientist Robert Hooke is usually acknowledged as the inventor of the sash window. Robert Hooke lived from 1635 to 1703. He was a renowned scientist, inventor and architect in his day. He is remembered for his law of elasticity (also called Hooke’s Law) as well as the surveying work he did in London after the great fire of 1666. He gained a reputation in this time for scrupulous honesty and helped Christopher Wren rebuild the city of London in the period following the fire.

Sash windows are often to be seen in Georgian and Victorian houses, usually in the classic pattern that consists of three panes wide by two high mounted into two sashes. This arrangement is often referred to as a Six Over Six window.

Ham house in England contains some famous examples of early sash windows. The house is situated in the town of Ham on the Thames river south of Richmond. It was built in 1610 and is currently owned by the National Trust of Britain. The house’s sash windows were likely fitted during the 1670s.

Well known painter from the Netherlands Johannes Vermeer’s painting The Milkmaid depicts a sash window. As the painting is generally dated at 1657 or 1658 we know that sash windows were already commonly used by then.

The sash window is usually referred to in the USA as a hung sash window. This name describes the more common window with two moving sashes in a single frame rather than the less common single hung type with one sash that moves and one that is fixed.

Sash windows are not as common as they were in the past but are still used in some buildings for their classic looks and efficient air flow characteristics. Next time you see a building using them you will be able to look with more interest because you now know a little about who invented the sash window and what is its origins.

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