Wooden shutters and arched windows in a new house built in the style of old Romanian houses

If you are an admirer of Romanian architectural styles, often inspired by peasant constructions, when you build your dream house you will want to find in it at least part of the characteristics of these styles. This is what the Vasile couple - the owners of the house presented below - wanted. Initially I thought it was an old renovated house. The division of the house, the arched windows, the wooden shutters are reminiscent of houses over a century old, about whose renovation we spoke not long ago. As with the renovated houses, the windows and doors were made with great attention to detail by the firm Holze.

About the house in general

The construction of the house on Theodor Pallady Boulevard started in 2017 and took about 2 years. The asymmetrical elements of the house bring to mind the old peasant houses, which were started by the first generation, then continued by the second, maybe even the third generation. The added bodies, despite being distinct, formed, together with the original construction, a unitary whole because the same line of construction and finishing was maintained.

The house has two floors connected by a central concrete spiral staircase with 5 cm solid oak steps and a handcrafted wrought iron railing. The open ground floor brings to the forefront new architectural and design concepts in family communication, bringing the kitchen and living room together. Also on the ground floor is a study and a bathroom, but the study is separate from the open spaces.

The staircase connects the living room to the bedrooms upstairs. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a bathroom, all with entrance from a central hallway. All the spaces are bright, both because of the windows and the light colours used to finish the walls and interior doors.

In order not to alter the final quality of the windows, Holze aluminium pre-frames were used during construction.

The arched windows are the ones that induce the idea of a renovated old house. They can be found on the front and sides of the house, usually grouped in pairs. The entrance door is also arched and has a wide, arched door frame. It is a glazed door, allowing light to flood in, with a metal grille that reproduces elements of the staircase banister. The same elements are found on the terrace balustrade on the left-hand side of the floor.

In order not to extend the working time at the house and at the same time to preserve the quality and appearance of the joinery, Holze has developed its own working system based on aluminium pre-frames. These frames are fitted into the window recesses so that plastering and finishing can be done without fear of damaging the windows. The windows can be fitted at the end without damaging the freshly finished walls.While the pre-frames are being installed and the construction team is working on finishing, the joinery is being produced and finished in the factory, reducing the time spent working on the house. Windows and doors are fitted when all the finishing touches to the house are complete, so there is no risk of them being splashed with cement or knocked on.

The window frames of the Vasile house are made of layered meranti wood, a hard, noble wood often used for windows. They are double glazed windows which provides very good thermal and sound insulation. The windows were made of wood on the inside and granite on the outside.

Wooden shutters increase home value

Wooden shutters are an increasingly rare fine accessory to home windows. In the past, it was commonplace to use them to protect yourself from the scorching sun or daylight. There were many craftsmen who knew how to make them. Now there are fewer and fewer who know how to work them so that they work well and stand the test of time in spite of outside attacks. Holze is one of those few.

The shutters of the Vasile house are made of massive tee. All knots have been removed because they are sensitive points where wood deterioration starts. Water can penetrate the area around the knot and slowly attack the wood, even leading to cracking of the blade. The hardware used allows the slats to be opened and closed and the shutters to be folded in half.

We used to say that shutters increase the value of the house. They literally and figuratively increase it. As well as the aesthetic aspect of a house with shutters, it's also the cost of the shutters themselves. If you want shutters you should know that they practically double the cost of the window. There's a lot of highly engineered wood, high performance exterior protection materials and good quality, durable hardware.

Doors can be more than a boundary between two spaces

All doors, both interior and exterior, were also made by Holze. The exterior doors are made of meranti, with internal and external trapping. The wide inlaid doorjamb reinforces the image of an old house by suggesting thick walls, as they were built in the past. The dark finish - walnut - is very similar to the roof and matches the exterior natural stone brise of different textures with shades of imperial blue. The pattern of the brise-soleil at the base of the house is repeated at the top of the ground and first floors.

Inside the doors are light in colour, avoiding the coolness of white. Ivory, a warm and distinguished colour, was chosen. The hardware is in antique bronze, which also ennobles the interior.

For interior doors Holze recommends strong essences such as oak tree, frasin or meranti, even if they are painted in RAL colours. Doors are easily knocked by children's furniture or toys and the finish cannot protect soft wood from knocks. This leads to bevels, scratches and dents in the wood which spoil the overall appearance. It is also recommended to fit solid wood doors in an elegant space.

If you want a special home, it's not enough to consider just the architecture and the way it's built. Equally important are the materials with which the house is finished, the doors and windows, the way and care with which they are built and fitted. Wooden-framed double-glazed windows will give the house a pleasing appearance while contributing to its energy efficiency.