Board approves aluminum-clad wood windows and glass door at 341 E. Second St.

Ken and Mary Beth Burke received approval to replace the rear sunroom windows at 341 East Second Street with aluminum-clad wood windows and to install a full-glass door as part of converting a three-season porch to a heated room.

The applicant, speaking as Mary Beth Burke, said the porch dates from the 1950s and currently has single-pane storm windows; she proposed insulated double-pane windows of the same visible proportions and a full-glass door by a common manufacturer. Board members emphasized the historic-district preference for wood windows or wood windows clad with aluminum on the exterior to provide a maintenance-free finish that still reads as wood. The board indicated that fully extruded aluminum windows without a wood core would not meet the preferred standard for the historic district.

The board asked the applicants to supply manufacturer cut sheets and product specifications (brands such as Andersen and Pella were discussed as common references). Staff advised that if the Burkes chose only to replace in-kind storm windows with equivalent aluminum storm units, they could do so without returning to the board; however, converting to full replacement windows that alter the porch condition triggers review. The board voted to approve the proposal conditioned on using wood windows with aluminum cladding on the exterior (aluminum-clad wood) and accepted the proposed door as described.

The applicants said they will provide product cuts and confirm whether proposed windows are aluminum-clad rather than fully aluminum before construction.