Yes. Those are pretty. They would look nice with the trim that is around the front door. Is it best to buy them premade or to have them made on site? I'm getting differing opinions. Some contractors say to use a 6x6 treated pine as the core then have them wrapped on site with redwood and trim the top and bottom with hardiboard. Some say use a pvc column wrap and some say a fiberglass column wrap. I saw a fiberglass column wrap in person and it looks like real wood. I haven't seen a PVC in person yet. The fiberglass column runs around 190/column. I wonder if that's cheaper than having a wrap made of wood with hardiboard trim on site?

The exterior materials of window parts play a big role in price and performance but it's dangerous making assumptions based on material alone. I tend to agree with JDS that poor quality vinyl should be avoided and phased out. There are high quality vinyl windows available that come with factory finished dark colors and can still outperform the aluminum clad or fiberglass competition. Energy performance is mostly about the installation, IGU or glass package and the window unit's airtightness. Be sure you are meeting 2012/2015 energy codes when it comes to U-value, SHGC and the blower door test results that windows and doors so heavily impact. It might be cost-effective to beat code here. Double hung or sliding door and window styles tend to be the least efficient when it comes to energy performance. Longevity or durability is mostly about installation and how the various window unit parts were assembled. Materials and finishing processes matter but probably less than the window maker's reputation. Thanks to the many homeowners and professionals on this forum for providing feedback with this all-important quality. The biggest problem with most vinyl is that it expands and contracts much more than the glass parts. This can wear out the seal between frame and glass more compared to other choices. I think most vinyl windows use weep systems to handle the eventual leakage, a good thing but concerning when preventing unwanted air and water entry are two of the biggest unspoken goals when building.

Why not just have someone replace the wrought iron post with something else - fiberglass or PVC if you want low maintenance. You can also get PVC wrap kits if you want to go that way. PermaWrap® Column Wrap Columns

For what it is worth, I thought I'd circle back on what we chose to do in case it helps anyone else. We love our wood windows and I just wasn't sold on replacing them with fiberglass yet. After lots of research I found Clear Image Glass in Issaquah, WA. (not compensated for mentioning them) The majority of my windows were structurally sound, but with some foggy spots. After a thorough inspection, we decided that most just needed new sills. They are made with Alaskan Yellow Cedar (better for NW elements if choosing wood) and depending on location in house chose LOE 366 or 272. Weathervane is the original manufacturer and not in business anymore, so in the areas we were adding windows, they built custom windows to match our existing exactly. The few areas with rot were fixed. It has been almost a year and we are super pleased. We were even able to keep our existing kitchen windows! New sills were half the cost (or less, depended on window). Custom windows were higher than other bids, but was worth it. For us, we were really happy to keep wood and the charm. Here are my kitchen windows, painted with new sills.