Motorized Honeycomb Shade for a Grand Entrance in Cortlandt Manor, NY

A beautiful window with a difficult exposure

A motorized honeycomb shade for a grand entrance solved a comfort problem twenty feet off the ground in this Cortlandt Manor home. The tall entry was designed around natural light. A window set roughly 20 feet above the floor made the entrance feel open and dramatic, but the same glass brought intense glare and solar heat into the room.

The treatment needed to soften that exposure without taking away from the scale of the entrance. Because the window is far beyond everyday reach, manual operation was never a practical choice, and anything that visually chopped up the glass would have worked against the architecture that makes the entry special.

Left alone, the glass also worked against the house in winter. Tall openings lose heat as readily as they gain it, and a two-story entry can carry a chill that reaches the rooms around it. The homeowners had taken to avoiding the entry on bright afternoons, which is a shame in a space designed to welcome people in. Whatever went on the window needed to earn its place in every season.

A motorized honeycomb shade

We specified a custom motorized honeycomb shade sized for the upper window. Its cellular construction adds an insulating layer at the glass, helping reduce heat gain while filtering the harshest light. The U.S. Department of Energy considers insulated cellular shades among the most effective window coverings for reducing heat loss and heat gain, which is exactly the double duty this window needed.

Motorization makes the shade easy to use from below, with no cords or ladders and no interruption to the clean lines of the space. The shade lowers to take the edge off a bright afternoon and rises again when the light softens, all from a remote or app. There is no daily ritual to it; the shade simply does its work when asked. A schedule can handle the predictable hours, lowering ahead of the worst sun and rising as the evening cools.

In a soft neutral tone, the shade sits quietly within the trim and lets the chandelier and architecture remain the focus. Closed, it eases glare and heat. Open, it restores the full height and brightness of the grand entrance.

Comfort without compromising the room

The finished treatment solves a practical comfort problem in a way that feels natural to the home. It is a single, precisely fitted shade in a demanding location, controlled effortlessly and designed to disappear into the larger composition. The entry still reads as a room built around light; the light simply behaves now. Morning light still pours in at full height, and the afternoon arrives softened instead of punishing.

Guests notice the chandelier and the height, not the shade, which is exactly the point. The glass keeps its drama, and the room keeps its comfort, without a cord, a wand, or a ladder in sight. The shade was fitted precisely to the window’s dimensions, so it disappears into the trim whether it is raised or lowered, and the fabric tone was matched to the trim so nothing reads as an afterthought.

For tall windows and other hard-to-reach openings in Cortlandt Manor and across Westchester County, a custom motorized shade can add meaningful light and heat control without asking the room to give up its character. To see more of our work or plan your own project, call Westchester Window Fashions at 914-685-9336.