“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” — Emma, Jane Austen
I can be a bit of a homebody and go days without leaving the house. The best thing about some days is coming home to the sight of our old, slightly beat-up oak door. The solidity and comfort of doors has been a lifelong preoccupation. And then there’s the built-in mystery and fascination of Other People’s Doors. Encircle a door in plants or line its entrance with pots, and I might stop and stare at your door for a length of time bordering on rudeness. Fortunately, there’s other obsessives out there doing some good door reconnaissance. I learned of Carole Isaacs’ San Francisco door project through this post on the Huffington Post, to which she left a comment referencing her door project. What admirable single-mindedness! I thought, as I scribbled off an email, to which Carole immediately and kindly responded:
“I am glad you like my doors. It is amazing to me that driving down the street doors can all look the same, but walking, what looks the same is not. There are variations large and small. Humans have a need to personalize the entrance to their homes and of course the inside too. It is ok to use some of the doors. Please mention I tweet a door a day @sfdoorproject . I have been too busy to post all of my neighborhood slide shows on FB. They are on youtube.com/sfdoorproject, a work in progress. I photograph the doors for fun, and rationalize the incredible amount of time I have spent on this as marketing for my real estate business.”
Restios and aeoniums in faux lead containers in Pacific Heights. How could you not put containers on those stairs?
Westringia and tibouchina getting overly friendly. I love it when plants occasionally win the people/plant spatial wars.
Here you’d be greeted by the eye-opener of your scarlet boug coming and going
one sleeps, one snarls
very clean aeoniums in urns
Tightly clipped and squared-away entrance
What an aeonium town SF is! Fuchsias and camellias are also very happy here.
Under SF’s cool and misty skies, I bet those orchid blooms last for ages.
Mary Lennox’s Secret Garden gate (with intercom)
Mondrianish, color-coordinated door and phormiums. Painted trees rooted in concrete.
It must feel like coming home to a party every night at this door.
Thank you, Carole, and keep up the good door work!
Thanks for sharing this Denise..I love it ! I go through ‘entry garden’ agony every year , as I am never satisfied –and spend quite a bit of time pondering what color I would like to paint my front door.
There are so many cool doors here! I love color on a front door but currently have clear, rather ornamental glass. I wouldn’t be without the light it brings into the front entryway but, from my first look, I never felt the style fit the mid-century house. One day, if I can twist my husband’s arm, maybe we’ll replace them with another pattern with cleaner lines. As for color in front, I rely on bench cushions and pots to provide my fix.
I love doors too! Several of these are really fabulous — the lions, orchid blooms, and bougainvillea — but my fave is the first. The containers are perfect in every way.
You’ve taken me back to my early college days when my dorm walls were decorated with posters and framed note cards featuring doors. I wonder if I still have any of them tucked away? Doubtful. These photos are marvelous, thank you for sharing Carole’s passion.
@Kathy, we’re woefully inadequate in the showplace entry dept. Hedges, fences, etc, make it a moot point.
@Kris, I included only the photos with plants. There’s lots of other amazing doors to check out.
@Pam, I think the first might be my fave too.
@Loree, I’m guessing your roommates had posters of pretty boys and you had…doors? That’s what makes you so special!
And too bad that photo of the Cymbidiums didn’t catch the Lotus maculatus in bloom, it must be outrageous. And Taylor Swift as Joni Mitchell? Well at least she does have good taste in musical heroes…