Recently CHRS received several questions on what is an appropriate type of  replacement door and where to buy one. Here are some ideas:  

Selecting an appropriate replacement door:

•  The CHRS publication, Judith M. Capen, AIA, “Entrance – When a Door is More Than a Door,“  shows both appropriate and non-appropriate doors in the historic district on page 3.

•  Craftsman style doors.  There are many craftsman style doors that are simple in design that might be good replacement doors.

Sources for replacement doors:

1.  Simpson Doors: simpsondoor.com, 1 (800) 952-4057

2. Siewers Lumber and Millwork: Siewers.com, 1901 Ellen Road, Richmond, VA  (804) 358-2103

3. Community Forklift: communityforklift.org, 4671 Tanglewood Drive, Hyattsville, MD (301) 985-5182

Note on door replacement:

One of the issues that homeowners must address is not just the style of the door, but the size of the door.  If they are lucky enough to have a standard size door (esp. 6′ 8″ high) there are many manufacturers and suppliers of doors that should have something architecturally appropriate in 1/2 or 1/3 glass styles.  What owners should avoid is reducing the width & height in order to accommodate a standard size door.  A further complication is that many of our houses have door units that include the transom – the frame of the door is often a wide piece of wood that has some important architectural elements and is integral with the transom.  Since many doors are sold pre-hung with all the weather stripping and sill included it takes some careful measuring and selective removal of the existing frame to get a door that fits properly and looks appropriate.

Examples of door styles