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The sash window, or a window that slides open and closed either horizontally or vertically rather than a casement window which functions on hinges, is most common in older British and American styles of architecture. While there are still many examples of them and we know they were quite popular a few centuries ago, the origins of the sash window are a little cloudy.

It is suspected that the design originated in either France or Holland. Later it became immensely popular in England and the United States colonies. By the seventeenth century, they were considered very fashionable and a symbol of status in those countries.

While the sash window is most recognized now as one that opens and closes vertically, the horizontal style also qualifies as a sash window, and was probably the original style of a sliding window. The vertical version would come later.

The earliest example of these windows can be traced back to their installation in the Ham House in England in the 1670s, but there have been older recorded histories. These include the Vermeer painting done in 1658 entitled "The Milkmaid" where they make an appearance, and also written accounts of the windows in England in as early as 1589.

The windows were not popular until the seventeenth century, however, and by the twentieth century it was the most common window used and seen in England and the United States, but its popularity began to decline after that. Georgian architecture especially had made a lot of us out of the window.

The most typical model of the window has two panes up and three panes across in each sash, creating six panes of glass over another six. There are many other styles, however. A common term used in the United States is the "double hung sash" which refers to two sashes in the window, both of which can move up and down or side to side. The single hung sash has one immobile pane and one that slides to open and close. In some cases, especially in examples of Churches with particularly tall windows, you see triple or quadruple sashes.

Regardless of the fact that the origins of the sash window date back several centuries, we find that their use and functionality still exists today. It's a charming window still to be found in various styles of architecture across many countries.

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