98 



The Country House 



done it suffers in looks, and in the case of the outside example exposes the joint to 

 the tender mercies of the weather. 



Transoms are sometimes used over doors for the purpose of ventilation. 

 When used they should be large enough to pay for putting them 

 in; the glass should not be less than 12 inches high. They are 

 sometimes hung in the centre of the ends or at the bottom; in any 

 event they are controlled by means of adjustable openers. 



In the house of moderate cost, stock doors (for the interior) 

 will save something in expense, but they ought not to be used as 

 outside doors unless of exceptional construction, as the best of 

 this sort is none too good or too well equipped to stand the test 

 to which they are subjected. In suggesting the stock door, it is only 

 with the idea that it may be used in the simple and less archi- 

 tectural efforts, and even then the architect should have a hand in 

 their selection. Wherever possible the door should be designed 

 especially for the place, as any creditable effort is likely to be 

 utterly ruined by the introduction of a foreign motive. 



Doors are usually 2' 10" by 7' o", but it is better that they 

 be 3' o" wide except in the case of the closet door, which may be 

 narrower. Some authorities claim that when a doorway is over 



3' 6" the door should be 

 double. This seems to be 

 hardly practical, as it requires 

 both doors to be opened in 

 order that the ordinary per- 

 son may pass comfortably. If it is desirable 

 to increase the ordinary opening to 3' 6" 

 the single door will stand it. Sometimes the 

 4' o" door is made to swing, but with a con- 

 siderable strain on the hangings. Such door 

 had better be slid, and if the swinging door 

 is insisted upon the increase to 5' o" is slight, 

 and the double door may be used. The 3' 6" 

 door, however, is the limit; it is the largest 

 for swinging and the smallest for sliding 

 doors. Wide doors can be slid, but an 8-foot 

 opening ought not to be a common thorough- 

 fare, unless, perhaps, the doors are to be 

 kept generally open. 



It would be impossible to lay down any 

 fixed rules as regards the size of doors as 

 elements of design. A 3' o" by f o" or 

 7' 6" door looks well if rightly treated. On 

 general principles a doorway 6' o" wide by 

 7' 6" high is easier of treatment than one where the opening is square or the 

 width excedes the height. There is, perhaps, a tendency to go to extremes in 



Fig. 14. The 

 veneered door, 

 showing good and 

 bad construction 



a. Panel 



!'. Moulding 



c. Veneer 



.! '.' : '.y 



An unusual door hood at Newport, R. I. 



