I live in a brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY and a typical residential street looks like this: There are some variations on the theme: some houses are four or five stories; some are brick or limestone instead of brownstone; the details on the stonework varies depending on whether the prevailing style at the time the houses were built (1800s through around 1910) was Greek Revival, Italian Renaissance, Federal, etc. The standard city lot ranges from 15 to 25 feet wide and 100 feet deep. Houses are built the full width and around 40-45 feet deep, though many have rear extensions on one or two levels that allow for more living space but less outdoor space. My particular block has smaller 3-story brownstones (17x40) on one side of the street and larger 3-story brick rowhouses (19 or 20 x 45) on the other. All my street is one- or two-family owner-occupied houses, though many of the houses on other streets have been divided into rentals, either 1 or 2 apartments per floor. Interiors run the gamut - the old timers who pioneered the neighborhood tend to have outdated remodels, while the yuppie newcomers have the money to either restore the interiors to their old-house splendor or gut them and make modern open spaces out of what can be a warren of tiny dark rooms. Central air-conditioning is NOT the norm and many of the houses still have steam or hot-water radiators, not forced-air heating.

"By the way, the conversation pit made it easier to pass around the peace pipe, if you know what I mean." Ah, that makes sense. I guess I never thought about that specific activity. "Conversation pits were popular because people actually had conversations. No computers, no cell phones, no texting. You actually looked people in the eye and talked." I do understand that the 1970s were certainly a social era. Perhaps I'm out of touch with the generations younger than me, but I'm fairly certain people still have conversations. I absolutely understand making a seating area just for conversations. But what I'm wondering is: why a pit? Why not just a circular or semi-circular seating arrangement? Did it make the room feel more open? Make the conversation area feel more intimate? I've never been in one and have always wondered what drew people to the idea of a pit.

Updating this thread for others considering aluminum frames: We did install the Milgard aluminum windows. They are really neat looking! My one regret is that there are a few windows where the old had a fixed pane and a casement. I ordered double casements instead, and probably should have stayed with the original layout. This because the double casements have a lot more 'frame' showing than we originally had. A few other things: 1.) We had some problems making casements work in some bedroom locations - due to emergency egress requirements. Basically a Milgard casement must be 30" wide for egress. Narrower and it won't meet code - even though the hinges are on the jamb. Wider and it becomes too heavy to work right. So we had to use sliders instead. 2.) Energy-wise, Milgard offers 'thermally broken' aluminum frames, but, strangely, not in California. I did order our windows with Milgards "Suncoat Max" upgrade though. It is interesting to place ones hand on the frame and then place it on the glass. Big difference in temperature. However, combined with other things in the construction (e.g., IB Systems membrane roof, and Techshield radiant barrier decking), the house is staying suprisingly cool during the current heat wave. (Got up to 100° yesterday.) And the insulation and drywall have yet to be installed! So in our case the aluminum frames don't seem to be a big problem. But if one were to insist on thermally broken aluminum, then Fleetwood seems to be a better way to go. (FWIW, I gave the local Milgard area rep a hard time about not being able to order thermally broken in California. Seems silly that you can order them in other states, but not here.) 3.) Milgard delivery was *fast*. Like less than two weeks from order to delivery. 4.) A nit: Our frames are dark bronze color, almost black. For some reason the screws mounting the casement lock handles are bright colored. Yet other screws, such as the ones holding the screens, are black. I need to call Milgard to see if they can provide some black screws to make the bright ones 'disappear'. 5.) For the master bath, I ordered reeded obscure glass, on the thought that it kinda carried the theme of the reeded obscure glass in the sidelight of my front door. (Of course a workman accidently broke the original 1950s sidelight a couple weeks ago, so now I get to match the sidelight with the master bath instead...)

We have the old 70's aluminum windows, tall and skinny, so not a lot of light. When we had window companies come out, we didn't like the vinyl either, due to the "chunky" appearance letting in less light. I've gone to the Windows forum here on GW - they were very helpful, and recommended fiberglass windows. Those have the skinnier profile like aluminum. We're a few years away from replacing them - got to pay off some of this present remodel first. However, I live in the deep south, so the cold isn't really a problem -- it's the heat. We do have to keep the thermostat at 72 to keep it cool in here, but that's not too bad.