Hillside Home, Shrewsbury, Vermont

Antique Radiators For A Modern Home With Majestic Views.

Surrounded by 39-acres, this hilltop home looks out over the spectacular vistas of Vermont. When owners Jeff and Gina retired and moved here from Denver, they began transforming this modern 1990s house into the home they had always wanted to create. Every supplier was chosen carefully. The floors and joinery are custom made from hickory wood. The stonework is Brazilian Granite from a merchant they knew from Colorado. Local Vermont makers Hubbard and Forge made the wrought iron lighting fixtures by hand. All selected with the unhurried deliberateness that defines Jeff and Gina’s approach to the whole project.

Getting the heating right was never going to be an afterthought either. Winter in Vermont can drop to -23°C, a dramatic change from the South Western climate the couple had been used to. Although forced air is the default heating for the region, radiators were on Jeff’s specification list from the outset. He was clued up about the benefits of cast iron and also remembered the radiators in his grandfather’s home, a warmth that had stayed with him since childhood.

Gina, who grew up in California, was unconvinced at first. She associated cast iron radiators with oversized, institutional eyesores. She says, “We kept going over it, and then eventually he convinced me.” Once Gina looked online and came across Castrads, the couple found a radiator model they both loved. Jeff said, “She was a little skeptical, but she’s a convert now.”

A Homecoming for American-Cast Radiators

When Jeff first called our US team asking if we stocked a ‘Chubby Churchill’, our consultant Leslie Brown had no idea what he was talking about! Jeff was actually using a nickname, unique to the British architectural salvage world, for a short, broad, undecorated radiator. Searching our catalogue of vintage radiator stock, Leslie located the model Jeff was after, officially called a Rococo Window Radiator. And happily Leslie found we had plenty of them

Our antique radiators are warehoused and restored at our HQ in England, but many were originally produced by foundries in the United States. The Rococo Window Radiators Leslie sourced for Jeff and Gina’s home were cast in Buffalo, New York. They are a fine example of why American Radiator Company castings were extremely sought after on both sides of the Atlantic. By the late nineteenth century, The American Radiator Company had established itself as the world’s leading cast iron radiator manufacturer, producing sections of exceptional quality, precision and variety that set the standard other foundries strived to meet. By choosing reclaimed radiators from us, the couple have restored some invaluable pieces of American heritage.

Castrads CEO Nick Baylis, who visited Shrewsbury with Leslie to see the completed installation, put it simply: “It’s a wonderful story. Jeff and Gina have chosen exquisite radiators cast by American foundrymen and brought them back to home soil a century after they were made. They’ve also just ended up in such a nice home.”

“Dream Customers”

Leslie described the couple as her ‘dream customers’ because they came to her knowing exactly what style they wanted and with room-by-room BTU calculations and heat loss assessment already completed by their contractor.

With all of that taken care of, the real leg work was in sourcing exactly the right quantity of sections at the correct height so they would sit beneath the large picture windows and leave the view entirely unobstructed. Totalling 15 radiators built from a total of 123 reclaimed sections, this was one of the largest vintage radiator projects we’ve worked on so far. Leslie, working closely with our UK team, tracked down every available section of the Rococo Window model to make it happen – and the result perfectly frames those beautiful rolling acres beyond the house.

The window arrays in the living areas form a wide sweeping curve. Jeff and Gina had fixed on the idea of multiple smaller radiators set along the rounded panoramic windows. It is an approach our team often recommends with regular bay windows, as two or three radiators typically align more naturally with the architecture. Here, an arc of granite has been inlaid into the hickory floors for these special radiators to stand on, accentuating the whole effect.

Steep Learning Curve for Master Plumber

The renovation included a full heating system overhaul. Two 25-year-old oil burners were replaced with a new high-efficiency boiler and a recirculation pump that resolved delays getting hot water to the kitchen and master suite. The system runs at ∆T60 across 13 zones. PEX underfloor heating serves the bathrooms, kitchen, and master suite; the cast iron radiators serve the living areas and bedroom.

The plumber approached the installation methodically, this being his first hydronic heating project. He studied the Castrads installation brochure carefully and worked through the assembly largely independently with one trainee assistant. His most effective decision was the pipework layout: rather than connecting radiators sequentially, he ran a single large loop so that all units receive heat simultaneously. It was a smart decision because the first winter in Vermont for Jeff and Gina really tested the system. Jeff told us, “It dropped down to -10°F outside but guests come in and say, ‘Your house is so warm.’ It can be whatever temperature outside, it’s just so nice in here.”

Polished Antique Radiators in Good Hands

The couple chose our unlacquered Full Polish finish, which requires periodic attention to maintain its gorgeous lustre. Jeff has a background in chemistry and a long career in metal finishing equipment so his maintenance routine is pretty involved. For the lay person, he assures us, caring for reclaimed cast iron needn’t be complex: “Use a cloth to rub a thin layer of WD-40 or silicone-based oil over each radiator two or three times a year.” Jeff certainly takes good care of his radiators and they do look exceptional. “That’s the first thing people say when they walk in the house,” Gina told us. “They’re a focal point.”

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