Make a memorable first impression with a front door that wows. Whatever your personal style, here are a few of our favorite picks that run the gamut in terms of color, shape and size.
BABY BLUES
Photo: Kerry Kirk
The façade of this Houston house melds the strong lines of traditional gables with the softness of white-washed brick. Stonework by Alpine Cut Stone surrounds a front door painted Benjamin Moore’s Van Courtland Blue.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Photo: Costa Christ
Visible from the library, the custom front door is painted Sherwin-Williams Smoky Blue. Designer Tiffany McKinzie carried the exterior paint color, Benjamin Moore White Dove, into the entry and throughout most of the first floor. Visual Comfort & Co. lighting from Taylors hangs above.
WELL RED
Photo: Julia Lynn
Designer Alexandra Howard added a coat of Fine Paints of Europe’s Rembrandt Red to the front door of the historic home, flanking the feature with tropical jatropha topiaries in antique French cast-iron urns from Tucker Payne Antiques. “I thought trees would be unique,” she says, selecting the evergreen species for its fiery coral flowers. Pine cone-adorned Vicksburg lanterns by Copper Sculptures Inc. lend a gaslit glow.
OPEN DOOR POLICY
Photo: Trevor Tondro
The entry remained largely untouched after a refresh—simply updated with a powder-coated steel-and-glass front door and sidelights. The globe-trotting owners discovered the pair of dogs at Tallulah Fox in Petworth, England. Just inside, designer Dana Battista placed a Williams-Sonoma Home bar cart topped with a Fornasetti lamp. The sunburst mirror is from Valerie Wade in London
EASY BREEZY
Photo: Jessica Glynn
A hipped aluminum roof caps the front stucco exterior of a Vero Beach house by designer Leah Muller. “This space is an open breezeway framing a large private interior courtyard,” architect John Brenner says. “The breezeway leads through the outdoor cabana to the main house entry.” Landscape architect August Schwartz added standard-form hibiscus as a flowering accent.
EXCELLENT PIVOT
Photo: Drew Kelly
In renovating their midcentury Alamo home, Jen and Adam Wallach worked with builder Jim Wood on incorporating a new walnut front door from Pivot Door Company. A Larkspur table by RH marks the entry along with an antique kilim.
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Photo: Richard Powers
The perforated-metal front door of this Chicago condo “allows visitors to be a part of the unit before they enter,” says architect Thomas Shafer. Designers Riker, Dolenc and Humphrey selected a scenic de Gournay wallpaper to make a dramatic statement in the adjacent elevator vestibule, which is lit from above by a sculptural Willowlamp chandelier.
THE REAL STEEL
Photo: Nathan Schroder
A glass-and-steel pivot door fabricated by Arte de Arquitectura de Mexico Inc. makes for a dramatic transition from front porch to entry, which features limestone floors and a white-oak clad wall. Mockingbird Made fabricated the pecan-wood console table, its dark base complementing the Arpel Lighting pendant. Existing art is by Galen Cheney.
MATERIAL MATTER
Photo: Joshua McHugh
Architect John Rowland fashioned this Aspen home around an exterior courtyard composed of weathered flagstone, which is used by the owners as a gathering spot near the entrance. Designer Terri Ricci created the dark-stained, overscale pivot door and its hand-carved ergonomic disc. The mahogany wood siding wears a pigmented stain.
BRIGHT SIDE
Photo: Christopher Stark
“There’s a nice juxtaposition between the refined character of the architecture and the boldness of the colors,” notes designer Paige Loczi of the grand Victorian in Hayes Valley that she renovated with architects Stephen Sutro and Melissa Kim. “It’s what really makes it modern. The blue siding and the fuchsia doors on the exterior set the stage for what is yet to come inside.”
HIGH ARCHES
Photo: Alyssa Rosenheck
The Dallas residents met architect Christy Goode Blumenfeld through their builder, Mark Danuser. While collaborating with the clients, Blumenfeld gleaned that they were drawn to European architecture and classic design, such as the French doors, leaded glass, smooth stucco and transom windows that would help bring their new residence to life.
GRAND ENTRANCE
Photo: Peter Vitale
Custom steel doors open into this Austin entry where a Marcia Myers painting from Gail Severn Gallery in Ketchum, Idaho, hangs above a 19th-century chest from Allan Knight and Associates. The bronze Ironies light fixture is from Kneedler-Fauchere in San Francisco. Herrera Ornamental Iron Works fabricated the railing, near an Anna Richards Brewster painting from Bert Gallery in Providence, Rhode Island.
BRING THE DRAMA
Photo: Kevin Scott
“The owners wanted a dramatic entry that opened up to the view of the water beyond,” says senior associate Amanda Cavassa, who, with architect Stuart Silk, conceived the front door fabricated by Old World Door. The pebbled water feature hints at the shoreline newly restored by landscape designer Richard Hartlage at the rear of the property.
