I was at a holiday party recently, in a friend’s “custom” home in a tony suburb of Manhattan – names will not be mentioned! Custom in this case means the high-end but still cookie-cutter builder allowed the buyers to select from 6 different kitchen cabinet styles, 5 different types of bathroom tiles, and 3 styles of wood flooring. This 16-room, 7-figure suburban sprawl was replete with high ceilings, tumbled marble bathrooms (4), stainless steel kitchen (yawn!), and oak laminate floors (snore).
Now I’ll tell you what I really think. The one feature that really bugged me? The doors. The exterior door was a faux wood, faux Victorian fiberglass number, complete with an oval leaded glass window in the middle. Completely out of place on the modern exterior. Like blue eye shadow and big shoulder pads, polyester “Oriental” carpets and pleather “TV sofas”, these kinds of doors should be on no one’s personal wish list.
A Hollow Knock
Our Victorian brownstone in Brooklyn (circa 1871) has an odd assortment of doors – from French to stained glass to heavy oak double – all but one original to the house. But I can’t be so smug about my doors because our country place is another matter entirely. It was built in the late 1980s, and has the luan hallow core doors to prove it. At first glance they look modern and simple, but they actually serve little aesthetic or practical purpose since they are both unattractive and not in the least sound proof. Replacing them has become an obsession. And leads me to wonder why don’t people care more about the doors in their house? Perhaps it is not an option on the custom builders list. Perhaps we forget about doors…and just accept what comes with our house.
If you own or are building a traditional, Colonial revival house, or Victorian style house it is easy to find vintage doors at salvage yards and architectural artifact dealers at a far lower cost than high quality new repros cost. Salvagers usually have rows and rows of classic paneled and French doors pulled from old houses before the wrecking ball comes barreling through. These doors are well-made, heavy, and sound proof. A good carpenter can retrofit an old door to your home, and a new home’s openings can be tailored to fit the doors you find. Old House Web (http://www.oldhouseweb.com/links/pages/Doors/) offers a fairly comprehensive listing of salvage retailers that sell salvaged doors. Vintage Doors www.vintagedoors.com creates high quality reproduction doors, mainly from the Victorian and Craftsman eras.
If you have or are building a modern house even something as ubiquitous as a ranch or a cape, I beg you not to slap a Victorian door on the entryway. Go modern. Neoporte http://www.neoporte.com makes ultra modern exterior doors with lots of interesting glass and light detailing. World of Doors http://www.worldofdoors.com makes both traditional and modern styles for exterior and interior use. There are numerous manufacturers of great doors all across the country. Some (but certainly not all) good ones: Interior Doors Direct http://www.interiordoors.com offers many traditional solid wood styles, from raised panel to French to bi-fold. Bookcase-Doors.com www.bookcase-doors.com offers that most practical and fun style – you can create your own “secret passage” with one of these beauties!
The Missing Link
Vintage door styles from the 1930s-1950s don’t seem to be as available as those from the turn of the 19th century and the early 1900s. The kind of doors you see in the movies. Modern, glamorous doors: wide and tall, with center knobs, inlaid details, exotic wood, or interesting moldings. Watch the background of most any Hollywood film from the 1930s and you will see what I mean. Where are those doors? Do they only exist in movies and in my dreams?
I have managed to find a couple examples. Recycling the Past http://www.recyclingthepast.com, a salvage company in Barnegat, New Jersey, has a set of five incredible exterior entry doors with privacy glass and Lucite pull handles with chrome plated brass fittings. These 1930’s-era doors are made from heavy exterior grade 1 3/4” thick wood, and are 35 1/2” wide x 84” high, but I think you could also use them in an interior. At only $495 they are a steal. If you don’t believe me check the price of new exterior doors at Home Depot.
Old House Parts http://www.oldhouseparts.com in Kennebunk, Maine, has a pair of 1920’s-1930’s era interior arched double doors that would be perfect on hall closets, or the entry way into children’s bedrooms (there is no reason why every door in your house has to match). They are 36” wide and 92” high and cost $800 for both.
I’ll keep looking – most of what I turn up on Internet searches are paneled doors – pretty, practical, and much nicer than anything new – but not especially unusual. When I find more glam doors, I’ll add them here. If you find any, please send me photos and descriptions and I’ll post them.
