Located in historic Chester County, PA., we're blacksmiths with decades of experience reproducing period shutter hardware in the manner of the originals. Over the years, we’ve learned what style of shutter hardware is appropriate for the different historic periods and regions of the country. Our fabrication capacity and experience have allowed us to develop the most extensive line of quality shutter hinges, locks and shutter hold-opens available from any shutter hardware manufacturer in this country or abroad. Our hand forged shutter hardware is inspired by the best original examples from American homes. All of our shutter hardware is based on historic examples that have stood the test of time….. we’ve seen what works, and we’ve seen a lot of shutter hardware that has failed.

All of our exterior shutter strap hinges and pintles are fitted and sized to your specific situation…… our hardware is correct in appearance and function and installs easily. Should you require custom hardware for an historic restoration, a difficult installation, or be shopping for something visually unique for an up-scale project; we’re able and happy to help you with custom hardware design, selection and fabrication.

Brandywine Shutter Hardware represents good value. You pay for our craftsmen’s time and materials, not middlemen’s profits. Pick up any piece of Brandywine Forge hardware and the weight tells the story – for strength and durability there’s no substitute for starting with heavy material. Rust isn’t rustic so all of our shutter hardware is protected with the same semi-gloss black automotive finish that’s used to protect under-car parts like motor skid plates and trailer hitches.

We really are blacksmiths, guys with big arms. Our work is hand forged red hot at the anvil as smiths have done for centuries.  But this is the 21st century, so we must define our mission:

Historic Falmouth Port, Jamaica---Royal Caribbean Lines destination.

We recently fabricated hardware to hang and lock a large number of really big doors for the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal in Historic Falmouth, Jamaica. The structures on the wharf of the port are new construction built in the style of 18th century British architecture. Considering the size of the openings - 12' high by 14' wide - and the hurricane winds that hit the north shore of the island, defining a heavy strap hinge and masonry pintle configuration that would withstand the weight and stresses was an important aspect of the project.

The structures are poured concrete with brick & limestone façade, so we looked to the historic examples of similar large doors and heavy 18th century hardware in the Caribbean. 

We based the pintles and installation on the historic Philadelphia masonry pintles shown above - similar pintles hold the big doors on the 18th century ocean-side warehouses of Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas.

That massive historic hardware has held those similar doors through more than two hundred years of hurricanes in the islands. Good enough reason to follow the early approach.

We designed pintle anchor plates to work with the contemporary construction and buried them behind the masonry façade. The installation approach satisfies the historic requirements of the project and keeps Þorvaldur Guðjónsson (Valdi), my favorite structural engineer, more than satisfied with the resultant math.

The hinges and pintles hold and swing the doors. When hurricanes blow, it's the bolts that keep the doors locked and secure. They have to be massive to handle the stress and they're visible when the doors are open, so the bolts are a big part of the visual package. See more Historic Falmouth Port

Virtually every classic American architectural style was heavily influenced by the exterior shutters common to all. The size and location of the windows was in large part determined by the exterior shutters that would be mounted on the structure. Sufficient room had to be left between adjacent windows to allow for their shutters to rest against the exterior when open - without over-lapping each other. This relationship between window size and separation and the fabric of the shutters between contributed much to the balance and symmetry inherent in classic American homes.

Functional exterior shutters do three things:

Regardless of the period and style of the structure and shutters, it is the shutter hardware that provides the three required acts.

Hinges and pintles fasten the shutter to the structure and provide the means for the shutter to swing between the open and closed positions.  The pintle fastens to the structure, the hinge is fixed to the shutter. 

Hinges and pintles are matched to provide the pivot point while their dimensions insure that parallelism of the shutter to both the exterior of the structure and the window is maintained.  Shutter hinges and pintles to mount shutters on a frame house are dimensioned quite differently than the shutter hardware required to swing shutters open and closed on a masonry structure with recessed windows.

Hold the shutters against the structure in the open position and keep the shutters from flapping in the wind. 

Hold-opens are seen in two general forms: shutter hooks or stays which fasten to the window sill and engage the shutter in the open position;

and shutter tie-backs which fasten to the structure and overlap the shutter, holding the shutter snugly against the face of the home in the open position.

The ultimate purpose of functional exterior shutters is to lock in the closed position…. If the shutters don’t lock, the shutters don’t function. 

I like shutter locks.  Even if the shutters are not operable, or if you don’t plan on closing your shutters, the locks are visible when the shutters are open and are the strongest visual elements on exterior shutters.  Shutter locks represent a relatively inexpensive investment that adds much to the look of your home.