Bay & Picture Windows in Kennebunk, Maine

Census estimates put Kennebunk's median home built around 1983, with about 19 percent of the housing predating 1940 and roughly 30 percent predating 1960. The town's oldest and most architecturally significant houses cluster along Summer Street and in the village center, where 18th- and 19th-century sea captains built grand Federal and Greek Revival homes on shipbuilding wealth. Toward Kennebunk Beach and Lower Village, shingle-style cottages and early-20th-century summer homes take over, while the rest of town, further from the water, holds a larger share of capes, colonials and contemporary homes built from the 1970s onward as Kennebunk grew as a year-round community.

Summer Street's collection of Federal and Greek Revival homes, many built by 18th- and 19th-century shipbuilders and sea captains, made up the first historic district in Maine listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lower Village and Kennebunk Beach, closer to the water, hold a more casual mix of shingle-style cottages and beach houses that grew up as a summer destination starting in the late 1800s. The town center around Main Street retains its brick commercial blocks from Kennebunk's mill and shipbuilding years on the Mousam River, and newer residential growth has filled in the areas further from both the historic district and the beach.

Building permits in Kennebunk go through the Code Enforcement Office in the Community Development Department at Town Hall, covering siding, roofing, window and deck work. Because Kennebunk has both river and ocean frontage, Maine's Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act applies along the Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers and the town's Atlantic coastline, including Kennebunk Beach, Gooch's Beach and Mother's Beach. Exterior work on a Summer Street Historic District property adds a layer of design review that a house elsewhere in town does not face, so that approval is worth confirming before materials are ordered.

Picture windows are large fixed units that frame a view and pour light into a room. Bay and bow windows project out from the wall, adding floor space and light from three or more directions. Both are heavier and more exposed than an ordinary window, so the structure, support, roof and flashing around them matter. The Cumberland Center colonial on this site received Andersen 400 Series bay, double-hung and picture windows.

• The opening, header and framing are checked; widening an opening may need a new header.
• Bay and bow units are supported with cables, brackets or a framed seat so they do not sag.
• The small roof over a bay is flashed into the wall and roofed or capped to match the house.
• Insulation goes into the seat and head so the projection is not a cold spot.
• Interior seat boards, casing and exterior trim are finished to match.

• A view you want to see more of from the main living space
• An old bay that sags, leaks at the roof, or feels cold at the seat
• Fogged glass in a large fixed unit
• A dark room that needs more daylight

• Size and configuration: picture, bay or bow, number of units
• Whether the rough opening changes size
• Support method and seat or roof finish
• Glass package and brand
• Interior finish carpentry

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our window replacement page, and the details of this service are on the bay and picture windows overview.

For a deeper walkthrough of materials, code details and photos, see our full Bay & Picture Windows: The Structural Support Most Homeowners Never See guide.

Back to the Kennebunk exterior services overview, or see every town on our service areas page.