Witch window

[3] They are principally installed in farmhouses from the 19th century,[1][2] and can be found less frequently in new construction.

When a house is expanded, for example with a kitchen wing or an attached shed, there may be very little wall space available in the gable end in which to put a window, which may be the only window available for an upper floor room (if there is no dormer—adding a dormer to an existing roof is problematic, as it involves puncturing the roof membrane[9]).

[4][10] An alternative explanation for the orientation of the window is that getting at least one corner of a window up as far as possible in the interior of the house allows hot air (which rises to the top of the room) to escape on summer afternoons.

[5] However, this reasoning seems suspect, as Vermont is not as hot as many other locations,[11] where the windows are not ubiquitous.

One solution is to orient all of the siding on the wall so that it is parallel with the window frame.