Giving old windows new life

hen Alison Hardy started her window-restoration business back in 2003, it was a one-woman show based out of her garage. Kevin O’Connor was one of her first clients. Hardy’s task: to rehab dozens of ornate yet inoperable windows, including 20-over-2 double-hungs and some arched sashes, from the 1893 Queen Anne that Kevin—who had not yet been tapped to host —was renovating with his wife. “Alison really is an artisan,” he says today of the masterful work she did. “Those intricate windows added so much charm to the house. Seeing them go back in completely restored and functional—it was a spectacular moment.”