Adam Style
A style named for British architect Robert Adam, who introduced
the use of fanlights to accentuate the doorways of London townhouses. Also
often referred to as Federal Style, it was popular in North America from 1780
to 1820.
Batten
A
board fastened across two or more boards or planks, used to hold
them together and stiffen their structure. Used in board-and-batten
house
construction as well as doors, panels and window shutters. Batten
Door
A
wooden door made of vertical planks or boards fastened together with
horizontal boards (battens), which are usually nailed to
the inside of the door. Decorative nailheads can be used for ornamentation,
as
well as distinctive strap or metal hinges. Exterior doors are usually
constructed with two layers of planks on either side of the battens.
Also referred
to as a board-and-batten door, plank-style door, or unframed door, this
style was
found in early American Colonial architecture in New England. Carriage
Door
A door designed to allow for the entrance and exit
of a horse-drawn carriage or automobile. Seen in the carriage houses
and garages
of private residences, and in public buildings such as firehouses. Classical
Door
A general term referring to a door constructed
according to an architectural style based on classical Roman or Greek
forms. Examples
of classical door styles include Federal, Georgian, Classical Revival
and Greek Revival. Classical
Revival Style
A style popular
in American architecture around 1790-1830, that was based on the
use of Roman forms and distinguished
by its
simplicity and purity of design. Closely associated with Thomas
Jefferson and his home, Monticello, this style is also called Jeffersonian
Classicism. Collegiate
Gothic Style
A style of architecture
typical of Oxford and Cambridge colleges in England, and adapted
by many American
colleges
and universities
in the late 19th and early 20th century. Column
A
pillar or vertical support. In classical architecture and doorways,
most columns include a capital (the top of the column),
a shaft (the
long vertical portion) and a base (at the bottom of the column).
Columns are freestanding supports, while pilasters are attached
to the wall. Cottage
Style
A style of architecture for
houses, usually of wood construction, made popular in the
19th century by architects Andrew
Jackson
Downing and Alexander
Jackson Davis, who created pattern books for standard house
designs. Cottage
Door
A rustic door design used in
homes, garden walls or other locations, based on an architectural
style typically found
in rural
cottages.
A cottage door can incorporate different style elements,
including frame-and-plank construction and the Dutch door
style in which the
top and bottom halves
can be opened separately. Custom
Door
A door that
does not fall into a standard category or period of architectural
style, designed specifically for a client
or home owner. All
construction by Historic Doors is custom to a degree,
since every door is designed and built to meet the unique specifications
of a particular
home or building. Dutch
Door
A door style introduced
by Dutch colonists who settled in the Hudson River
Valley in the early 1600’s. Typically a wooden batten
door, many (but not all) Dutch doors were separated
into top and bottom halves — a
practical feature that kept livestock outside while
allowing light and air in through the top half. Fanlight
A
semicircular window above the door, often with distinctive radius
work and glazing
that suggests an open fan. An identifying feature of
Federal style architecture, fanlights allowed light
into the entry hall as well as individuality to the facades of
urban rowhouses in the mid-1700’s.
Sometimes accompanied by sidelights, fanlights were
also found in Classical Revival and Colonial Revival houses. Federal
Style
A style of architecture popular in post-colonial
America, around 1780-1820. Both the Federal style
and the Classical Revival style came
into favor following the American Revolution, symbolizing
the new republic and replacing the earlier Georgian style and its
association with England.
The Federal style, also often referred to as Adam
style, is characterized by an elegance and lightness compared with
the Georgian style. It is
often identified
with the use of semicircular windows, called fanlights,
above the door. Frame-and-Panel
A
style of door construction that features vertical wood stiles and
horizontal rails that form
one or more frames around thinner
recessed inner panels. Doors usually have between
one and eight panels, and the door is often referred to by
the number of panels it contains. Introduced
as a technical improvement over earlier plank-style
doors, this method reduced the seasonal expansion and contraction
of wood doors. It came into fashion
during the Georgian period in the early 1700’s
and remains the dominant method of construction
today. The common six-panel door, in
which the top
four panels are proportioned to delineate a
cross and the lower two panels represent
the open Bible, was popular in colonial America
and is often called a Colonial door, or Christian
door, or cross-and-Bible door. Frame-and-Plank
A
rustic door construction style in which vertical
planks or boards are fastened to a supporting
frame that is made of vertical wood stiles
and horizontal rails. A sophisticated form of
the basic plank-style
construction, frame-and-plank doors are often
seen in Collegiate Gothic and Gothic Revival
style doors in universities and churches. Sometimes
planks clad
both sides of the frame, thereby hiding the
internal frame from view. Georgian
Style
A
style of architecture that took its name from the Kings of England and
that was prevalent
in the American colonies
from 1700
until about 1780. Georgian houses usually
displayed a strict symmetry with a paneled door as a centerpiece.
Typically the
door was capped
by an elaborate
crown or pediment, and often bordered by
pilasters (flattened columns) on each side. The style lost favor
after the American
Revolution, when
the Federal
and Classical Revival styles gained more
widespread use. Glazing
The
panes of glass that are set into windows, doors and other openings.
Also can refer to the putty compound
used to seal
the glass. Gothic
Revival Style
An
architectural style found in America
in the 19th century that drew its inspiration
from the Gothic style
architecture,
especially cathedrals, prevalent in Western
Europe in the High Middle Ages. Seen
in American churches and universities (where
it is also
called Collegiate
Gothic), Gothic Revival buildings often
feature a paneled front door set into
an arch, partially glazed with Gothic
motifs, tracery or a simple rectangular or diamond-shaped
pattern. Greek
Revival Style
A
widely popular style used throughout
America from about 1820 to the 1860s,
which based its design on ancient
Greek architectural
forms (and the distinctive Doric, Ionian
and Corinthian orders). The use of
porches and porticos supported by stately columns
was reminiscent
of
Greek
temples. Often seen in banks, courthouses
and other public buildings as well
as houses, the style became known as the
National Style during
its
period of
greatest popularity. Hood
A
covering above a door or window that
provides shelter as well as adding
a decorative element to the doorway.
Jamb
The
vertical support on either side of a door, window or other opening. Mortise-and-Tenon
Joinery
A woodworking method used to join
two pieces of wood. A mortise
(cavity, hole, notch or slot) is cut into one
piece of wood.
The tenon is created by shaping
the end of the second piece of wood so that it can slide into the
mortise. After fitting the tenon into
the mortise,
the
joint is made secure by drilling
a hole through both the mortise and tenon and driving a wooden
peg (also called a treenail) into the hole. Pediment
A
low-pitched triangular gable over a doorway or other opening, often
seen in Georgian
and Greek Revival architecture. In
a version known as
a broken pediment, the peak
of the triangle is interrupted, often with an ornamental curve and/or
decorative element in the center. Pilaster
A
pillar that is attached to a wall and projects slightly from it, either
to provide
added support or for ornamental decoration.
Like a column, a pilaster
often has a capital (at the top of the pillar) and a base. Plank
A
wide piece of square-sawn timber. Today, planks usually must have
a width of at least six to eight inches, with a minimum thickness
of one
inch (for hardwoods) to
two inches (for softwoods). Plank-style doors (also called batten doors)
can be found in early 17th century colonial
homes,
as well as in Cottage and
Gothic style door treatments. Porte
Cochère
A covered
entryway for vehicles, attached to a home or building, that projects
over a driveway to provide shelter
for people
arriving and leaving
by carriage or automobile. Also, a large entrance gateway into a courtyard. Portico
A
covered entryway with a roof supported by a series of columns.
Sometimes called a colonnade. A style that began to appear
in
colonial America
after 1750, porticos
in the South were generally larger than in the North, and often
extended two stories high. Radius
Woodwork
Woodwork that involves
curved elements, requiring special techniques to shape or bend
the wood. Examples of radius work
can be seen in
fanlights, Gothic
tracery, and the arched or rounded tops of many carriage doors. Rail
A
horizontal bar of wood that connects the vertical bars, called
stiles, in a door or window frame. Renovation
A
project that typically involves more significant changes to an existing
building
than either restoration or reconstruction.
Examples
include adding
or extending a door or entryway. Restoration
A
project intended to return a building to its original design. Restoration
often involves
rebuilding an entryway
that has been
modified over
time. Rustic
Door
A general term used to describe a simple
door typical of those constructed by early American settlers
or often found in rural
homes
and buildings.
Plank-style doors, Dutch doors and Cottage doors are examples
of rustic door styles. Shop
Drawing
A measured drawing that
details the design specifications of a proposed door or entryway
before construction begins. Sidelights
Vertical
framed areas of glass or glass panes, located on either side of a
door. Often associated
with fanlights or transom
lights,
sidelights gained popularity after the American Revolution. Stile
A
vertical length of wood in door or window frames, connected
to other stiles by horizontal bars called rails. Surround
A
decorative structure around the doorway. The term is also used for decorative
elements
around other openings such as
windows
and
fireplaces. Threshold
The
strip of wood (or other material) that lies directly beneath a door
and covers the joint between two
different types of
flooring. A threshold can also serve as a barrier against weather
and/or light.
Sometimes
referred to as a doorsill, or saddle. Tracery
Ornamental
curved patterns in windows, doors and other openings often made of
wood, stone
or cast iron. Tracery was especially
typical in Gothic Revival and Collegiate Gothic style architecture. Transom
A
window or panel positioned directly above a door or window, often hinged
to the horizontal crossbar across the top of
the door. The term can also refer to the fixed bar of wood or stone
that separates
a fanlight or other panel from the door below. Transom
lights
Small fixed panes of glass located above a door
or window opening. A feature often found in Federal and Georgian
style architecture,
sometimes accompanied by sidelights. Back
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