The His and Her Door

I believe this is literally the front door to someone's house. I like how they wanted to dress it up a bit with nicely carved figures in a nice light wood. What I don't understand is why the poor lady has to be on her head (I've rotated the picture so you can better see the Mr. and the Mrs.). There is probably a good reason for this topsy-turvy arrangement, but I can't think of one. It does remind me of a playing card where you have the image of the knight/queen/king shown in this same way, but cards get tossed around and turned upside down...doors don't! Nice handle, too, huh?

The Sideways Door

When I out walking and came across today's door, my first thought was that it is a sideways door....not, obviously, because the door is sideways, but because it is so narrow that in order to get through it you have to turn sideways!! At least if you are carrying something really big you could open the big doors.

If you've been following my blog much you have probably (and correctly) come to the conclusion that I love door 'accessories' so certainly you can imagine that I like this handle a lot.

And isn't that little peek hole/letter slot/'what's the secret password' hole great fun?

Big, Dark and Mysterious

This is not an extraordinary door, but for some odd reason, it has charmed me. I especially like the frame even if (or maybe because) it is rather simple. This clearly a hard-working door has suffered much use and abuse yet has remained like an old barnyard dog that is determined to keep outsiders from going any farther.

Wait though...look carefully at the the ground below the doors...there are what appear to be a narrow set of rails leading from the street into the courtyard...hmmm, what went on here? What goes on here now? Mystery!! And check out the scary face above the door!? OOoooo!!

A Watchful Door

I love this door! Sure, the color is a bit dark, but look closer at just a few of the details...

Even the handles have faces...and when you go to open these doors, you aren't holding a handle, you're holding some kind of bizarre fishy looking lion!! (BTW, the handles on this door are at about eye level...I keep wondering why door handles were so high once upon a time...were people really that tall?

An Odd Marriage. What do you think?

Am I the only one that thinks this door and arch combination is odd? The arch that holds the door is old...it is from the gothic period therefore it dates to at least the 16th century. On the other hand, the door is clearly not that old and other than having been literally coupled with the arch, in my opinion it has absolutely nothing in common with the arch's dark heaviness and simple style. In my opinion, the door was installed within the last 50 years (maybe more, maybe less) by someone who not only had no respect for the period of the arch, but had no imagination.

My architectural education consists of a very basic introduction to architecture my first year at university. In life, I am a designer and painter, but on this blog, I am an observer and admirer of the doors I show you. What I say here is purely my opinion, but I welcome corrections from anyone. I do try to research things that I don't understand, and in the case of this door, I tried to find examples of this style (e.g. the garlands and the multi-petaled flowers on oval-shaped supports) in the gothic period as well as in the neo-gothic period (also known as 'Gothic revival' or 'Gothik'), but found nothing.

What do you think?

Proud

In my opinion, some doors give off vibes...yesterday I told you that I could almost hear that sad door whimpering; on another day, I felt the door was saying 'hello, look at me' to everyone who walked by it. Well, I have the strong impression that today's door gives off pride vibes. Afterall, look at him: he's fine, he's happy, he's good-looking and he knows it!

Proud door here has a wonderful door frame (notice the proud lions' heads?), an iron-work halo that is cheerful and up-lifting, his carvings are fabulous, he is clean, oiled and well looked after and even his door handles are fabulous! I think he has lots to be proud of!

Sad Door Saturday

Ahhh...it's Saturday. I hope as you are reading this you are in the company of a nice cup of java or tea (as you prefer) and that you have your feet up.

Here at The Door Hunter, I've decided to dedicate Saturdays to 'sad' doors because sad doors need to be noticed and loved too. Today's sad door is truly sad. Actually, I think I can hear it whimpering every time I go by it. Poor, poor little door. It has such potential, but it is so abused and unloved...If there was a Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Doors, I'd be on the phone right away trying to get help for this little door. But since there isn't, I will just have to hope that one day someone will love it for it's beauty and take care of it...afterall, it was once loved and decorated...

...now it is badly mistreated...and badly handled. Poor, sad door.

The Big Money Door

Big money: big door...and we are looking at one, big honkin' door! (I'm sorry, though I haven't used the adjective 'honkin' in, oh, forever, I had to use here because it just seemed to fit!) No, this building isn't any the Czech Federal Reserve, but it is a bank and since the building is really big, I'm going to go with the idea that there is a lot of money inside it.

Take a good look at this gorgeous door...imagine that the door handles are at, oh, say the 5 foot mark (approximately 1m60), what could be the distance between the door handles and the top of the door? 10 feet (3m30)? Big honkin' door.

I am in absolute awe of this door. Seriously. It is like a silent, gentle, handsome giant. It's such a big giant that to get this first picture I had to stand in the middle of the street. Just the same, I still couldn't get the entire door frame so I had to take this second picture.

Let's get down to details: look a little closer...do you notice something odd? No?

Ok, so get even closer (and check out the incredible woodwork while you're there)...do you see it?

No keyhole! This is clearly not the door the last person out of the bank has to shut when the work day is over (though it humours me to imagine someone doing so!). But surely you already guessed that! Look at those handles - they are purely symbolic - as if they were put there to say, 'yes, you can come in this door'. But a word of warning: don't bother trying to open it using those handles because they don't turn. FYI: during banking hours these doors stand wide open!

NOTE: If you are in the neighborhood of this building, I would highly recommend going inside...it is absolutely breath-taking!!

Theatrical Thursday

This is perhaps not the most exciting of doors, but you have to admit that it has certain qualities, albeit a little bit of an odd mixture, but nonetheless interesting! First of all, look at those hinges...talk about ornate!! Wow! And the brass grill over the windows...not ornate, but not boring, either! Then there is my favorite: the door handle...you see those two faces? They have big sheep ears!! That's funny!!

Now, would you like to know where this door leads to? It is the back entrance (staff entrance) to the fabulous Stavovske theater!! (Look at Google Images/Stavovske Divadlo for pictures of this building) You didn't expect that, did you?!

...and behind Door Number 32 We Have...

OK, before you get up on your high horse and tell me that this is not a door, but only a frame, let me explain. (Oh! I'm a poet!) Several people have mentioned that they would like to know what is BEHIND some of the doors I photograph...now I can at least show you what is behind THIS door!!

Yes, there IS a door in this picture... look closely to the right side, you can see a green wood door which looks like a lot of other doors of this shape and size. And the door is a great camouflage for what is behind it which is typically a courtyard or maybe a store (see yesterday's post). We can see that the owner(s) of this building decided to use the passageway for something entirely different - to open up access to underground parking! Parking under an old building like this in the middle of Prague? Rare!! The bad news about that is that they had to sacrifice the old cellars under the building so they could make the parking area. If you know Prague at all, you have certainly visited at least one restaurant in a cellar...there are tons of restaurants in cellars in the centre of town because (nearly) every building has a cellar and nearly all of them have, or have the potential to have, immense charm.

We can see that the owners have opened up the view from the street to the courtyard by glassing in the space around what is left of the passageway resulting in giving the impression that the viewer is looking directly into the courtyard... Cool!!

Finally, so that you don't think I have forgotten the theme of this blog, I have a quick comment about this door's arch: it is simple and attractive, made of a warm stone and engraved with a floral motif and, best of all, it is inviting. This door would have found its way into my blog even if the door had been closed...I swear!

Two for One Tuesday

Sometimes there are couples that just shouldn't be separated...today's doors are just such a couple. When I came across this pair, I was first attracted to the smaller, typical-looking door, but then I backed up, gave the two a good look together and realised that these two were made for each other and that I have no right to split them up!

In our couple, on the left is Big Door who is (or was) probably some sort of an entry to an atelier or work area or even a small store judging from the threshold and the wear to it. Big Door's three sets of reinforced hinges and external lock (which seems to have replaced numerous hidden locks) tell us that Big Door has and will continue to do its best to hold strong and to keep the world at bay as best it can.

Little Door, on the other hand, was designed as the gregarious one in the couple. Little Door invites you to a cup of coffee in the kitchen that is somewhere behind it, or it waits while the children are at school, or it protects a family from a cold winter's night. Little Door's handle and door pull is nice and decorative, but neither exotic nor extravagant. I am guessing that the upper keyhole decoration was made and added later when the kind of keys used in the lower keyhole became more or less obsolete. What I like the most about Little Door is the is the incognito mail slot...you almost don't see it, but there it is!

A Never-ending Job!

Today's door is dedicated to people who go back to work on Monday after having the weekend off. Why? Well, because this is a door where every day is Monday because the people here never leave the job.

I know, from a distance it's hard to tell much about this door other than the obvious: it's modern and metallic. Now, take a closer look...

Yep, the 'decoration' on the door is made up of fist-sized (a man's fist, not my little puny hand) heads turned in different directions. Behind this door is a loading dock, but even when work isn't going on there, the heads on the door are always at work!!

Old Church Door

One week! I've been posting for a week which brings me back to Sunday and since many people go to church on Sunday, I thought I would post a door that belongs to a church. In all honesty, I'm not sure exactly how this door is related to the church as it was not even on the church itself, but on a side building, but in my humble opinion, I believe even if it no longer belongs to the church, it once did...take a closer look at the carvings in the stone frame and tell me what you think.

I can't figure out whether this door is genuinely old and all of its knicks and gashes are the result of a long and important life or if it had a shortish life (less than 100 years) and was battered AND had the misfortune of having its locks and handles changed several times. I guess the only way to really know would be to understand the original function of the space behind this door, but since I don't have that information, I will just have to like this door - complete with all its scrapes and patchworked wood - as it is. The ironwork appears to be new, but these things do have to be replaced from time to time so I won't hold that against the door. I do like its little pivoting leaf over the keyhole...such modesty!!

Sad Door Saturday

What a poor, old, sad door!! But it does have something to be happy about... it is one of the few doors that I have come across that is not on a busy street! In fact, when I want to take a nice, calming walk, this door is on my route because it is in a peaceful and inviting neighborhood. I have been by this door in every season and under all weather conditions and a couple of times I have even been lucky enough to have seen it when the door was slightly open so I can tell you that it leads directly into a courtyard. (FYI: All the doors I have shown here until today either open into a long hallway/corridor or directly into the building itself.) My imagination wants me to believe that there might even be a horse or two living behind this door!

I know I've said it before about another door, but I have a special place in my heart for this door, unfortunately, I think it's owner doesn't. I will continue to visit it...maybe some day I will discover that its owner has finally decided to give it the love and care that it deserves. If such is the case, I'll be sure to let you know.

(Click on the picture to see an enlarged version of it.)

Look But Don't Touch!

As doors go, this one is a real stunner!! This is one of those doors that you look at and only a few moments later do you realise that you have momentarily stopped breathing because you have been absolutely taken in by its beauty. After those initial moments of awe and door-lust, your head clears again and your eyes hear what your ears cannot - the message the door is sending out: "Look, but do not touch". Have you noticed that there is no door handle (just a key hole)? And what about that triangular peep hole...it surely isn't there for you to look in, rather it is for whoever is behind the door to look out (and to shooo you away probably!!). The icing on the cake is the trio of prickly looking flowers at the top-center...I bet they would draw blood if you touched them! (Ok fine, so maybe not...but you never know!!) And check out the scary face on the door frame smack above the door - it looks like it could come unstuck from it's hold at any moment and jump off and bite into you (are you scared now???)!

I like this door very much, but I have to tell you a little truth about it...it is not old. Nope. Sorry. It is new. Yes. But don't hold that against it because, afterall, every door has to come into existence at some point and this one just came into existence more recently (like a few years ago). The craftsmanship of this door is extraordinary as is that of the wrought-iron work above it. The door frame is just slightly ornate, but nothing to take away from the richness of the door itself - the two compliment each other nicely.

(As with all the pictures here, just click on a picture for it to open in a separate window.)

Honesty and the Blue Door

Honesty...that is my motto. Why am I telling you this here and now? Well, because I want to be honest with you from the start: I am not always going to show you picture-perfect doors because, despite the fact that there are a lot of those in this city, there are also a lot of sad, under-loved doors that deserve our attention. Forgive them for not looking their best ... it isn't their fault that no one has given them the love they merit.

Today's door is one such door...just look at it: tall and strong with honorable designs carved into it including the ever-popular noble-looking lion's head! And what a beautiful shade of blue!! The door handle is simple yet not without character and never mind that the wrought iron work above the door is in desperate need of a scrubbing (as is the rest of the door!) it's beautiful, too! OK, so maybe the door frame is a bit boring...I have the impression that those designs were carved into the frame rather recently..probably when they decided to honor the famous person who once lived there. In case you were wondering, the text at the top of the door frame says that a man by the name of Pavel Josef Safarik, (who, according to Wikipedia, was a Slovak philologist, poet, one of the first scientific Slavists; literary historian and ethnographer) lived in that building and died there in 1861.

Stone Garlands

Today, after meeting a friend for a coffee, I took a walk in the area of Prague between the main train station, Winceslas Square and Jindrisska Street. The weather was rotten and piles of ice and old, dirty snow cling to sidewalks, curbs and streets everywhere. Though I could have sworn the temperature was below freezing, it must have been just a hair above the freezing mark because melting snow and ice clumps were falling from rooftops all over town. Thanks to such falling snow and ice, I was forced to change sidewalks, which allowed me to come upon this door from a reasonable distance. As you might guess, I was immediately charmed by it.

If you have been to Prague or if you live here, you certainly know that the majority of these old doors and their elaborate door frames are ENORMOUS!! Taking a picture that contains all the elements of the door and frame is not a simple task. Actually, often it is nearly impossible unless you have a: a fish-eye lens and/or b: an unobstructed view of the door from about 30 meters away - which in most cases would put you smack in the middle of house or building across the street from the door. Such was the case here, so I took two pictures of the door and frame: the first photo is of as much as I could fit into the picture and the second photo shows the upper part of the door frame and a better view of the hanging stone garland and the other floral elements. (Are you as impressed as I am by that stone garland?? Wow!!) Because door handles are also often (but not always!!) noteworthy, the third photo includes a close-up of the especially lovely ones on this door.

The Elusive Door

Finding a pretty door in Prague is not a challenge...the challenge is photographing one when you do find it. This beautiful door and frame is located right next to a great little cafe I go to often, but I can tell you that of the dozens of times I have been to the cafe, I was there only once when a car wasn't parked in front of this door...that was the day I took this picture!!

This massive door and it's gigantic frame is awe-inspiring. The sculptures of the men are more than life-size and they are so real-like that you almost get a headache/backache because the men look so real you can nearly feel them straining to carry all that weight on their heads and shoulders!! The woodwork on the door (see below) and the stone work on the frame (click on the picture to see a larger version of it) is absolutely incredible. I highly recommend visiting this door if ever you are in Prague.

Below is a close-up of the original door handles, which by the way, were approximately at the height of my head...and I am not that short!. Note: you can see in the above picture that some daft person installed a new and extremely ugly aluminum handle below the original handles. Duh.

An Old Friend

I must have walked by this door a thousand times before I ever took a picture of it because it is on a busy street and I was always in a hurry when I passed in front of it. One day, when I wasn't in a hurry, I stopped to look at the door and fell in love. This door and its frame have lived and it shows. It sits there quietly, like any other door does, but somehow it is alive and when you finally hear it's silent calls to come visit it, you'll want to get to know it and make it your friend. Now, every time I pass in front of this door I tell it hello... because this door and I are old friends.

A Valentine's Day Door

To kick off Valentine's Day and my first blog entry, I've found a nice red door for you. Look closely and you'll see that it is covered with red roses (well, maybe not exactly roses, but just pretend they are, ok?) - so I guess the only thing missing is a box of chocolates!

(click on the picture to see if full size)