Hertfordshire
Windows and doors for Harpenden, drawn to fit the house.
Late Victorian semis, Edwardian avenues, inter-war houses around the Common. We fit windows, doors, conservatories, roof lights and lanterns, porches and secondary glazing across Harpenden, guaranteed for ten years in writing.
Harpenden was still a mainly agricultural village into the late nineteenth century. What changed it was the railway — the Midland line arrived in 1868 — and almost everything a homeowner here lives in today was built in the seventy years that followed. The town grew as a place for London commuters, laid out in avenues of individually designed houses in generous gardens, then filled in between the wars with the large detached houses around the Common. St Albans City & District Council calls the resulting conservation area one of the largest in the county.
That history leaves a town of well-made windows in well-proportioned openings, which is a pleasure to work on and unforgiving of a lazy replacement. We fit flush sash and casement windows in timber-effect uPVC for the Victorian and Edwardian streets, slim-frame aluminium and tilt-and-turn where they suit, and doors, conservatories, roof lights and lanterns, porches and secondary glazing throughout. Everything is double glazed and drawn to the opening.
Which Harpenden homes do we fit windows for?
Mostly houses built between about 1880 and 1939, which is what the town is largely made of. The council's character statement divides the conservation area into fifteen identity areas, and they are genuinely different from one another.
North of the centre, Luton Road and Hollybush Lane are described as comfortable late Victorian and Edwardian houses, usually in semi-detached pairs, in mature gardens. The statement makes a point that is easy to miss and hard to undo: in Tennyson Road and the streets nearby, "the use of white window frames maintains the unity of the street scene." Around Park Hill the same houses appear smaller and more closely spaced, with attractive detailing at eaves level.
East of the railway, The Poets — Cowper Road, Shakespeare Road, Cornwall Road, Devonshire Road, Milton Road — is an enclave of late Victorian and Edwardian houses that varies street by street. Cowper Road has some of the smallest, with polychromatic brickwork and slate roofs; Cornwall Road is three terraced rows of small-scale, intimate quality. Cravells Road, off the Common, is brick terraces originally built for railway workers. On Crabtree Lane, Edwardian houses are faced in Luton Grey brick, often with roughcast at first floor.
Then the inter-war town. Bowers Way is described as an attractive example of inter-war suburban housing, with half-timbering and chequered brickwork. West Common was open farmland until West Common Way went in during the 1930s, bringing large detached houses with imitation timber-framing — once dismissed as "Stockbroker Tudor", now recognised as having real merit. Park Avenue was laid out on plots with frontages of at least eighty feet, and completed only after the war.
Is your Harpenden home in a conservation area?
Quite possibly — the Harpenden Conservation Area is unusually large. Designated in 1969 and extended in 1983, 1993 and 1999, it covers four main elements: the town centre, the Common, Hatching Green and the post-railway suburbs, subdivided into identity areas including the High Street, Harpenden Lodge, Highfield Oval, The Avenues, Park Avenue, Station Road, Bowers Way North, Ox Lane, The Poets, West Common and Southdown. It is one of nineteen conservation areas in the St Albans district.
On Article 4 directions, the picture is worth stating precisely. The four Article 4 Direction areas the council lists within its conservation areas are Verulam and Fishpool Street, Sopwell Lane and Albert Street, Cunningham Avenue and Childwickbury — all outside Harpenden. The council also lists a number of other Article 4 Directions across the district, several of them at Harpenden addresses. So rather than assume, check whether an Article 4 direction applies to your street, either through the planning constraints layer on the council's District Mapping Service or by asking the council directly.
Where a frontage needs to hold its line, timber-effect uPVC flush sash windows keep the recessed, flat-closing look of the originals, and white or woodgrain foils can match what the rest of the street already does.
How far is Harpenden from our Hemel Hempstead base?
Close enough that the two towns once had their own railway between them. A branch line ran north of Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead — the Nicky Line — which closed to passengers in 1947, and its track bed is now a cycle path. We drive it rather than cycle it, and it is a short run east from our base. That proximity is the practical point: the home visit, the survey, the installation and any return visit are all easy for us to reach. We have no showroom by choice, so we come to you. Call 01442 600 101 and we will ring back within two business hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Questions, answered.
What windows suit an Edwardian semi in Harpenden?
Usually a flush sash in timber-effect uPVC, in white, because that is what most of these streets already do. The council's own character statement singles out white window frames as the thing holding the unity of the street scene together around Tennyson Road and its neighbours. The detail that matters most is the sightline: a chunky frame in an Edwardian opening loses glass and looks wrong from the pavement.
Do I need permission to replace windows in the Harpenden Conservation Area?
Check with St Albans City & District Council rather than assume either way. The conservation area itself brings extra controls, and while the council's four listed Article 4 Direction areas within conservation areas are all outside Harpenden, other Article 4 Directions exist across the district. The planning constraints layer on the council's District Mapping Service will tell you what applies to your address.
Do you carry out home design visits in Harpenden?
Yes, free of charge. We come to the house, measure up properly and talk through what suits the frontage — which is a different answer on a Cowper Road terrace than on a 1930s detached house off West Common. No hard sell. An itemised written quote follows, then an official survey before anything is made.
What does the ten-year guarantee cover?
Your installation, in writing, for ten years, honoured directly by Dukes rather than handed to a third-party insurer. The number printed on the guarantee is the one you called to book the visit. Alex Dukes co-founded the company on that principle: if something needs putting right, you speak to the people who fitted it, not to a claims line.
Can you match the bay windows on my house?
Usually, yes — bay windows are common across Harpenden's Victorian and Edwardian streets, and they do a lot of work holding the front of a house together. We draw them to the existing opening rather than approximating, so the proportions of the lights and the depth of the bay stay as they were. Bring us a photograph on the first call and we can tell you early what is realistic.
Which other areas near Harpenden do you cover?
Redbourn, Wheathampstead, St Albans, Luton, Hemel Hempstead and the villages between them, plus the wider area across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and North London. Harpenden is a short drive from our Hemel Hempstead base, which keeps everything from the first visit to a ten-year guarantee call straightforward on our side.
Is there an offer on at the moment?
Yes. Right now there is £500 off your first installation of £5,000 or more — the full terms are on our special offer page.
Book a home visit.
Book a home visit and we'll talk through your project at your house — no call centre, no hard sell. We call back within two business hours, and you'll get an itemised written quote.