Saving America’s Windows: The Legacy of John Leeke

Many consider John Leeke to be the godfather of the modern historic window restoration movement. It is not a title he claimed for himself, but one that others have given him, earned over decades of patient work, careful documentation, and an unusual willingness to share what he knew. For more than fifty years, John’s mind, hands, and heart have shaped how America cares for its old houses, and especially its windows.

Leeke’s story began in Portland, Maine. As a boy, his father would send him out on Saturdays with a sketchbook to study the architectural ornament carved into courthouses, churches, and civic buildings. Oak leaves, grapevines, quatrefoils — these became his earliest history lessons. Later, he inherited more than one hundred chisels from Keats Lorenz, a master woodcarver who had trained his father. Those tools still sit sharp on his bench today. As Leeke once said: “On my bench, then and now, are 102 carving chisels, with well-worn handles, sharp steely edges. In my dreams, they glow and sparkle. When I wake up, they are an inspiration to get out to the shop.”

From these roots, he established Historic HomeWorks, his Portland-based practice. The mission was straightforward: provide “practical, economical solutions” for old houses. But what he really offered was stewardship. His decades-long relationship with Portland’s Victoria Mansion, a high-style Italianate landmark, is a case in point. There he repaired windows and exterior woodwork, but also developed long-term maintenance programs and trained others to carry them out. He showed that preservation was not about one-time heroics but about consistency, care, and respect for the building.

Even as he worked with hammer in hand, John was thinking about how to share. Long before Facebook groups and Instagram reels, he built one of the internet’s first preservation forums: the Historic HomeWorks website. For years it was a vibrant question-and-answer community where homeowners, tradespeople, and preservationists from across the country came together. They posted photos, asked questions, and learned directly from John. In a time before social media, this was radical. It created a space where people discovered they weren’t alone in wanting to repair instead of replace. In that sense, John wasn’t just saving windows — he was saving knowledge, and he was giving it a place to live in community.

His writings carried that work even further. He published Save America’s Windows, a book still called the bible of sash and frame repair, and contributed more than two hundred articles to Old House Journal, Fine Homebuilding, and Traditional Building. These publications gave credibility and consistency to a craft that had long been scattered. They turned folk methods into documented processes. And unlike many voices of his era, John insisted on independence: no advertising, no free samples, no hidden sponsors. His words were not for sale; they were written to last.

In 2010, his vision took shape on a larger scale when he co-founded the Window Preservation Standards Collaborative. The Collaborative brought together preservationists and tradespeople from across the country to create shared standards for window repair. Their summits, often held at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky, gave the movement its first common language and a sense of unity. Even today, John can be found there, still contributing and still shaping the community he helped form.

That same year, I met John in Austin, Texas, at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s national conference. I was early in my own journey then, still discovering what it meant to take historic window work seriously. Meeting him was like encountering a living bridge between the past and the future of the craft. He didn’t need to dominate a room; the room adjusted around him.

The truth is, I had already met him in another way long before that handshake. Years earlier, I had stumbled across an article he wrote in Fine Woodworking. It landed in my hands at just the right time, when I was curious about sash making but unsure if it was even possible to learn. That article gave me confidence. It opened a door into the discipline of sash making, and in many ways it laid the foundation for what eventually became the Sash Factory system. Without knowing it, John had already been my teacher, and his encouragement came printed on those pages.

Meeting him in Austin sealed it for me. I realized I wasn’t just chasing a personal curiosity; I was stepping into a movement larger than myself, a movement he had been carrying for decades. Where I was eager, he was steady. Where I was searching, he was rooted. He had already walked the road I was beginning, and because of that, I could see my own path more clearly.

Over the years, John has sometimes called himself an “American Preservationeer.” The title fits. He is part artisan, part pioneer, blazing trails where few had gone before. His philosophy is simple: historic windows are cultural artifacts, worthy of respect, repair, and protection. As he once wrote: “When I was young I became educated — Information. As I worked through my life I accumulated experience — Information plus Experience equals Knowledge. Now I become old and share what I know — Shared Knowledge is Wisdom.”

John Leeke’s legacy is immense. He showed a generation that repair is not only possible, but better. He gave them the tools, the methods, and the confidence to stand against replacement culture. He turned scattered efforts into a nationwide preservation force. Many consider John Leeke the godfather of modern window restoration, and rightly so. His knowledge, his standards, and his spirit transformed a fragile tradition into a living movement. Even today, you may find him at the Window Preservation Standards Collaborative summit at the Pine Mountain Settlement in Kentucky — still shaping, still encouraging, still passing on the wisdom of mind, hands, and heart.

At Artisan Army, we honor those who paved the way for our craft. John Leeke’s legacy is proof that sharing knowledge builds movements. If you’re inspired by his story and want to be part of the next generation carrying this work forward, join us. Subscribe, attend a workshop, or step into the Five Pillars of Window Craft — and help shape the future of historic window preservation.