Why would you?

It’s original and needs to be replaced. I guess I'm not sure if a bow window is outdated, or is it important to this style of Cape Cod?

I would replace it with a regular window. Probably a bigger one.
For a bigger project that I think would look AMAZING.:
I would add French doors on both sides. And extend the porch on either side as well. Thoughts?

If it looks good, who cares?

In a dining room, it's a great place for a buffet table, or a small table and a couple of chairs for just the two of you when the gang isn't all there but you want to eat nicely , not in the kitchen.

In the living room, it's a great spot for a piano or for two chairs and a side table or a nice big upholstered chair and ottoman and side table as a reading nook, or for a game table.

They are great places for Christmas trees, too.

On the other hand, you do need to think about the cost.

Will the cost of replacing the glass with energy efficient glass be more or less expensive than tearing the whole thing down and putting in totally new window frames and new glass which involves construction?

Picture of original era house plan showing flat windows. If u want to keep the authentic charm. You can go flat windows and still keep authentic just fyi. It a cute home.

Yes, I'd replace them. However, if you want to retain the charm of a Cape Cod home, (I live in New England), casement windows are the wrong choice. Double hung windows are what are normally seen on Capes. The bow windows could be changed to bay windows, but that would entail some additional work. As mentioned, you can also do a flat window. imo, black windows are also not in keeping with the style or charm of this home.

I think they look great as-is, even if they aren't original to the home.

Interesting, I wondered if the casement windows would be wrong for this style. I don’t mind double hung for the upstairs And sticking with white, yes I understand that that is reflective of the original style. I just had hoped that Black would modernize it.
Thank you for all of your input though still don’t know what to do with the bow windows...

Do we replace with another bow? Or replace with flat windows? They’re very large....

My question is what does that do to the inside? Bow windows often come with a window seat or great place for plants to thrive. What's your goal to change the Cape Cod style of your home or to preserve it?

I never like bow windows but I do agree casements are not appropritae for the house I think black would be fine to update a bit without totally removing the charm.

We built our Cape Cod in 1988. It was a model home and the casement windows were less then quality. We slowly replaced all the windows with Kolbe and Kolbe new casement windows. We live in Wisconsin and as many are aware our winters can be dreadful. These windows are great. Plus the company is wonderful. They designed a beautiful custom 12 foot window arrangement for our family room. We have removable grated on the windows they come in many different configurations. Casements are beautiful and do work on a Cape Cod

Our Cape Cod with casement windows

I’d do double hungs upstairs and double hungs or picture windows downstairs. Either black or white.

I have two suggestions. One is to remove them and replace with actual bays with windows on top and siding of some type below. This would probably entail building new roofs over each as a bay might extend further out than the current bows. Second is to remove altogether and replace with flat widows and siding that is in alignment with the current wall face. LOL, third option is leave them as they are and use landscaping to complement the bays. Good luck!

Our bay window and the custom window wall in the family room

I would do flat windows, either casement or a series of double hung. I don’t care for bow or bay windows, they are difficult to get window treatments right and find furniture that works.

@sue_g Your window appears to be a bay window not a bow. Bays are lovely and totally appropriate for this home. The casements look ok in your home as it is a different kind of cape and the dormers are quite large. The op’s home is a typical standard cape.

Your house is classic and cute - no need to update. If the black windows are an up charge, spend that money on top quality white windows. We have double hung Marvin clad wood on our Cape Cod lake house and they're great.

Double hung have a practical advantage in that you can open the top when it's raining (an issue when there's a porch).

I have been living in the South too long, but I also keep seeing a covered porch with French doors, at least on the living room side.

@sue_g Your home is beautiful, thank you for sharing. I agree that casements look lovely, but I always wondered if our home was better suited to double hung and I think I might go back that route with plain white, and grills too.

@latifolia A covered porch with French doors? Oh I'd love a porch.. Do you have an image you could share of what you're talking about? That is definitely an option.

@Norwood Architects Thank you. Either way, it needs to be replaced (not surviving the -35 Celsius temps here). I'm leaning towards replacing it with a bow and 5 double hungs with grills (top half? full?). Would love your final recommendation on what the window should look like if we were to keep the bow.. This way I can keep the siding underneath for the time being.. it will all be replaced over the next 5 years.

@Design Girl Thanks for your feedback. If we replaced with a bow, what window style would you recommend? And what would you recommend for the upstairs windows at the same time? General consensus on here seems to be white, double hung. With grills (full? half? 1/3?)

@rehabit Thank you so much :) What a cute pic you posted.

@HU-187528210 This is a super interesting idea.. I grew up in Australia and MISS having an outside porch. Do you have any picture inspo to support your idea? I'd love to see what you're thinking. Thanks for your help btw.

Pics of Cape Cod porch additions...

I actually looked this morning for some pics. Couldn’t come up with much.

@Design Girl Thank you so much for your advice. I think I have what I need! Merci beaucoup!

@Laura Hill Thank you SO much! I am going to now find an architect and see what we can do here to put this on. This is EXACTLY what I would love to do. Thanks!!

Off topic but wanted to say that the picture of your snow covered house topped by the bright pink tinted and fluffy clouds is very pretty.

@KW Thank you, it was a beautiful sunrise that's for sure. Captured by my neighbour.

@Alecia OBrien, you have a beautiful home! Nice wide dormers and I love the brick, too. If you're willing to share, what did you decide on as far as the bow windows? Would love to see a photo if you've had the work done.

We also have a cape and are replacing windows. The majority of our windows will be white, double hung, 6 over 6, but we also have a picture window (no grills) in our dining room and a bay (all grills with double hung flanking each side of the picture window) in our living room on the back of our house. These windows are next to each other on the exterior but separated by a wall (between the DR and LR) on the interior. I've been considering the option of replacing the LR bay with a picture window but concerned that two picture windows "in a row" on the exterior would look strange. In addition, the existing bay (in LR) and picture window (in DR) are not the same distance from the ceiling on the inside, so I believe that would be the case on the outside, too. For that reason, we will likely stick with a bay in our living room. @Design Girl, I appreciate your comment that a bay window would be appropriate on a Cape. That is probably the route we will go.