There are quite a few amazing solid carved wood brownstone entrance doors to be found throughout Harlem and many have taken on different directions in restoring the portal to the front foyer. At top is a restored door that is located on the adjacent blocks of the Mount Morris Park Historic District which looks brand new compared to some of the other adjacent houses that have the same design element at the front of the building.
Even more interesting might be the unique modern addition found at 148 West 127th Street which is probably one of a kind in all of Harlem (lower photo). Walking past the block just west of Lenox Avenue, one will notice that an amazing ethnic bas-relief has been carved into the door. This one looks more like a modern addition but somehow adds character to the older aesthetic of the brownstone. Click on images to enlarge.
I do love a well-made front door. It says a lot about the owner's & the inhabitants. And I do love walking around town and looking at the doors and trying to figure out which ones are restored and which ones are new. I've seen some in Harlem with a lovely afrocentric design and one (I can't remember where) that looks as though the owner bought it in Nigeria or Ghana and brought it over and retrofitted it to the house.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the lower door is made of thin wooden panels attached to the face of an inner door that does not fit physically (indicated by the lighted transom) or aesthetically to this brownstone façade. Now the door in the upper photo is really something, I have admired this many times. Each to his own.
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