Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/699

 1869.] Descriptions. 501 FRAMED DOORS. THERE is no feature of joinery which so indicates the style of finish, in Civil or Ecclesiastical Archi- tecture, as the Doors. In Domestic Building, they are especially prominent and noticeable. We have often seen an otherwise very effective interior, ut- terly spoiled by the tastelessness of its doors. And, it is not alone the design, which does credit in this matter, it is the style of execution in which that design is car- ried out. A poorly-constructed door is, of all other details of a building, the most unpardonable. It comes under close observation oftener, and is, in fact, the object with which we become palpa- bly intimate. If there be any fault in design or construction, we at once de- tect it ; for, we not alone handle the door, but in opening and closing, we bring it into different lights, as well as positions, so that the scrutinjr is com- plete, and the work must be capable of standing it. The style of finish of doors is. in the present day, a great improve- ment on that of preceding times. We do not allude to the casing, and its finish ; we simply confine our observa- tions to the door itself; and, in so doing, we accompany our observations with three examples, to assist the reader in forming a judgment on the subject. Artistic effect is the ruling thought in our modern door-making ; and the giving an appearance of solidity without actual heaviness of stock the next ; in other words, to construct a thick door, out of comparatively thin material. Our an- cestors were in the habit of giving the full thickness, both in appearance and fact. That we may produce the effect now called for, a good deal of judgment is required in the formation of panel- mouldings, for it is in that portion of the door this effect must be produced. In order to obtain the desired end, it is necessary to run a raised moulding around the outer edge of the panel, and thus deceive the e3 - e, by giving an ad- ditional depth, as it were, to the bed of the panel, by raised moulding around the middle, and sometimes raising this mid- dle itself, through an added layer, and even yet another, with ornamental but- tons, which, in practice, are usually termed studs — as shown in illustration. Segment and circular heads are very fashionable now-a-days ; and the de- signer is occasionally puzzled to know how to fill up the dead space which in- tervenes between the long panels and the circumference of the head, the field for invention being rather limited in Romanesque, or Norman, although am- ply suggestive in the various forms of Gothic. The illustrations here given are of doors already executed, and are admira- ble specimens of joinery. They are put together, without mortice or tenon, bv doweling, and gluing the frames with well-selected walnut veneer one-quarter inch thick. The core is of white pine, made in two thicknesses, and glued to- gether. The panels are veneered with about half the thickness of that used on the frame. No. 1, represents a pair of sliding doors, with elliptic tops, the middle panels of which cannot be raised higher than the side, on account of the peculiar office of these doors, making such raised panels an obstruction. No. 2, is a Front or Hall Door. In this case the middle panels are raised and ornamented with studs. This door has a very good effect, the mouldings are not overwrought, as is too often the case, but the play of light and shade is very pleasing. The base panels give a peculiar effect of strength, just where it is most called for ; and the rounding off of all angles in the prominent panels is an improvement on the old style. No. 3, represents the doors of the principal rooms. The design is simple, yet highly effective; and, executed as these and the other doors, here given, are, proves to be eminently satisfactory.