Expert: Rikki Nyman - 3/29/2010

Question
Is it wrong to have toilet windows on your front elevation of a residential building  
an why if wrong an what could be a remedy if unavoidable?

Answer
It's not "wrong" to have bathroom windows on the street-facing façade of a residence, but it is problematic from a design standpoint. Bathroom windows require privacy treatment and unless they are cleverly camouflaged, they look like bathroom windows which can destroy the harmony and balance of the façade.

I have a number of mid-century plans showing ranch style homes with bathroom windows that have been successfully incorporated. They are uncommon and not the norm, however. Sometimes all the street-side windows are small, so there is no apparent change from one room to another; in one case, glass block was used for light and privacy and treated as a design detail.  In another plan, a wooden screen with louvers was built away from the house ostensibly as a design detail and it too screened the bathroom window. In homes of the 1920s, a tiny half-bath was sometimes located right inside the front entry of the home and would have a tiny window high on the street-facing wall that was treated as an small, ornamental detail on the exterior.

It's clearly something to be avoided if possible because of the difficulties it entails from a design standpoint.

Hope this helps.

Rikki Nyman
Editor, www.antiquehomestyle.com
www.midcenturyhomestyle.com