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Don't Replace...Repair
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About Us
A steering committee was formed and the Window Preservation Alliance was organized as a 501(c)(6) trade association. The first meet up was held in April 2015 and an enthusiastic group immediately signed up for membership.
Below is the current Board of Directors and active committees.
Board of Directors
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Caitlyn Barhorst, owner of Restoration West, was born and raised in Lubbock, TX. Their family lived in Doha, Qatar for a year while they were in 8th grade, and getting to travel sparked their interest in architecture and more specifically, old buildings. Caitlyn got their Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from Texas Tech University, then went on to get dual Masters’ Degrees in Architecture and Historic Preservation from Ball State University. While living in Muncie, they were able to research a historic one room schoolhouse owned by their extended family and became interested in the windows that were in need of restoring. After a short time living abroad in Germany, Caitlyn moved to Utah as the Historic Preservation Planner for Park City, where they were able to assess and help homeowners preserve their historic structures. After that, they went into the private sector and worked at an architecture firm in Salt Lake City. Working closely with historic structures in Park City and Salt Lake City made Caitlyn realize there were not many tradespeople working in historic trades in Utah, so they decided to create their historic window restoration business: Restoration West. Caitlyn has been working on windows full time since August of 2023, and is passionate about teaching more people about restoration, tradespeople and homeowners alike. In their free time, Caitlyn enjoys restoring their own c. 1910 historic home, training their rescue dog Brillo, and fostering other dogs looking for their forever families.
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Adam Butler, Treasurer is the owner and President of Iconic Windows. His passion for historic preservation and carpentry started when he was a child. He looked forward to the weekends to watch TV, like many kids. But instead of cartoons, he sought out episodes of This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop! Adam is a native of suburban Philadelphia and earned a BA from College of Charleston in beautifully historic Charleston, SC. It was during the summer break in 2003, at his family home in Pennsylvania, that his passion for restoring historic windows was kindled. He fumbled his way through the restoration of his family's windows and realized how surprisingly rewarding window restoration could be. It was not long after graduation and a short stint as an accountant that Adam started Iconic Windows. Over a decade later, his company restores hundreds of windows a year as well as manufactures custom windows and wood storm windows.
Kevin Elzinga, WPSC Chair, grew up on a dairy farm in Jarvis, Ontario where he learned creativity, tenacity, and skills to fix anything. After working for Verizon Wireless for 19+ years, tired of retail life, Kevin searched for a new career. He had lived in homes older than 100 years, and owned two houses in Heritage Hill in Grand Rapids, MI and needed help restoring their 110+ windows. But he could not find anyone skilled to do the work. In 2014, he took precious vacation time to attend a two-week training held by Michigan Historic Preservation Network, and a new interest emerged: historic window restoration. Kevin set to work planning, dreaming, and visioning. In 2015, he started Heritage Window Restoration (HWR), specializing in late 1800s to early 1900s windows. HWR installs aluminum storm windows, wood storm windows, and refinishes doors.
After 16 years at Fine Homebuilding and GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, where he created hundreds of articles, videos, and podcasts about all things building, Justin Fink decided to start something new in 2020 to mark the birth of his son. In founding the new company, Fink and Son Woodworking, Justin wanted to reinforce the message--to the world, and also his son--that pursuing a career in the trades is a worthy option. Typical Fink and Son projects include window restoration and window reproductions, storms and screens, recreating damaged or missing architectural components ranging from corbels to clock tower faces, and more.
Stacy Grinsfelder has been writing the Blake Hill House blog since 2014, documenting the restoration and rehabilitation of her historic 1800s home. She is also the producer and host of the "True Tales From Old Houses" podcast. Stacy launched True Tales From Old Houses in 2018 to connect and share stories with old house lovers and devoted DIYers. The goal of the show is equal parts entertainment and education. Since the launch, she has become a trusted voice in the old house community. During the pandemic, Stacy began online and in-person window consultations, and she developed a beginning-level hands-on workshop method geared towards DIYers who want to learn to repair original wood windows while providing a service to long-neglected old buildings. The inaugural workshop took place during the summer of 2023 in Silver Lake, NY. Several additional workshops are scheduled for 2024. Stacy believes everyone's chapter one looked different, and meeting someone where they are is the best way to encourage responsible stewardship of old buildings while gently nudging people toward best practices. She and her husband Andy have four children. They currently split their time between Blake Hill House in Western New York and Salt Lake City. Stacy is an avid runner, frequent traveler, and enthusiastic extrovert.
Joe Hayes, Parliamentarian, first began working on old windows in 2009 when he bought a house built in 1916. The house had original windows but no storms, the glazing putty was virtually nonexistent, and most of the cords were broken. His first priority for the house was to get the windows performing better—also his first introduction into the care and maintenance of historic wood windows. At the time, Joe was working as a Montessori elementary teacher. Every summer he would pull out his tools to tackle ever-larger house projects. He kept coming back to the windows as he learned more about how best to address the issues he was seeing. In time, Joe decided to step away from a career in education to follow his passion for working with his hands. He quickly found out that the Twin Cities was thirsty for window restoration services. Since 2017, he has been operating and growing Hayes Window Restoration. When not working on windows, Joe enjoys spending time with his wife and two young daughters, canoeing, gardening, and playing music.
Chad Nelson made his first wooden storm window in 2020 using off-the-rack pine boards from a big box store and pocket-hole joinery for his 1888 home located in a historic district. In the following months, he reached out to window and woodworking professionals to deepen his understanding of joinery and glazing and started his business, Red Beard Restoration, with a focus on new wooden storm window builds. Seeing the huge demand for primary sash restoration in his area, Chad then began restoring and preserving windows, as well. His business now focuses on window restoration, new wooden sash and wooden storm window builds and Mon-Ray storm window installation. Working on old windows lit a spark, and Chad is now fully invested in historic preservation as a whole, and he is currently a commissioner of Des Moines, Iowa’s Historic Preservation Commission. Having spent most of his post-college life in the military, Chad now finds the act of window restoration a form of creation and healing – for himself, the homeowners he helps, the neighborhoods where he works and the city he lives in. |
From watching his parents and neighbors restore their own windows as a child, to helping out around the family business as a teenager—when it was still in their garage, Jackson Hoggard grew up immersed in the practice and business of window restoration. As a young adult, he saw the success of the business, Double Hung, and the efforts of his father David. He realized his passion for evangelizing window repair. Driven by his desire to save windows from the landfill, Jackson got a degree in construction management from Cape Fear Community College and then traveled the southeast working for two of the nation's best builders. He helped deliver over $600mm to the built environment over the span of eight years. He also gained valuable industry insight, expertise, and relationships that help him spread the truth and science of window repair nationwide.
Kelsey Moss is the owner of Moss Restoration LLC located in St. Louis. She got her start in wood windows after buying a 1920’s home, most of the windows had broken ropes and didn’t open. After learning to restore her own home she went to work for a restoration company before starting her own preservation focused company. Kelsey enjoys managing and teaching best practices to her ever growing team of window people. She loves collaboration with other window shops near and far and helping fellow tradespeople launch their preservation businesses. When she is not windowing you can find her hanging out with her wife, son, and dog probably riding bikes.
Born and raised in Florida, John Rodgers, Vice President, graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with degrees in environmental science and management, then joined the desk side of preservation in 2007 as a Main Street Manager and Downtown Development Director in South Louisiana. While working to restore his own properties, word started to spread and it became a hobby, then side job, then second full time job. John founded Phoenix Preservation, with the bulk of work at the time being traditional plaster repairs. Windows quickly became the primary focus. The company and family relocated to Northwest Missouri in 2019 and they are now strictly doing window and door restorations and new wooden storm window builds.
Jon Sargent, secretary, is the owner of Fort Collins, Colorado-based Deep Roots Craftsmen, focusing on window restoration amongst a broader workload as a historic preservation general contractor. Jon’s career has been dedicated to historic preservation, with a BA from Wesleyan University in Architectural History and a MA from Savannah College of Art and Design in Historic Preservation. Drawing from work experience in New England, New Orleans, Colorado, and beyond, Jon has led Deep Roots Craftsmen to steadily diversify their window work across commercial and residential projects. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two young children and getting out into the outdoors whenever possible.
Val Vides, president, is a New Orleanian by way of Boston and Southern Virginia. Her journey has exposed her to different industries from technology and biotech to becoming a real Willy Wonka and managing a chocolate factory. Val has enjoyed opportunities leading teams, projects, and processes. She has spent most of her career working in operations and HR, helping keep the back operations of businesses going and finding new ways of solving challenges from cash flow limitations to event management. She is a lover of old homes, glass, Hoosier cabinets, records, putting glitter on things, and the creative process of taking something and making it beautiful. Val and her husband started a window restoration business in New Orleans two years ago after a trip to Florida to learn how to restore their own windows. Her focus is mostly on the day-to-day operations of their business and glass epoxy repair. Val enjoys scraping paint and getting into the details and seeing the beauty of the wood hidden underneath. She has two children, two dogs, and two grand dogs.
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Julie Whalen is the owner of Willamette Window Restoration, LLC. She started her business in 2017 in Eugene, OR after wrapping up a 25-year career as a park ranger and park manager for the state of Oregon. Involvement in the restoration of a historic mill in her park district ignited an interest in preservation, and she turned her skill set to building her business and now has four full time employees. She works on both commercial and residential properties. Throughout the growth of her business she has received support, advice, and encouragement from mentors and peers on the WPA. She is committed to the future of this growing field.