Forum
« New chimney liner ISO: Sidewalk repair landmarked »
March 4, 2009
Door Casings Partially Covered
In both our old coop in Park Slope, and now our 'brownstone' in Bay Ridge, we have some door casings (mouldings) that are cut in half (vertically) because the space between the door and the adjoining wall is to narrow for the full width of the moulding. So the truncated moulding butts up against the adjoining wall. Even in our front foyer, with it's old world oak charm, it's cut off on one side. It seems so common, but I always wonder why? Any thoughts?
Comments
Many brownstones were built on spec, with stock mouldings. Even though standards of craftsmanship were higher 100+ years ago there was often some corner [or, in this case, moulding] cutting.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 4, 2009 3:44 PM
Ours are like that too cornetor. Most brownstones are the old school equivalent of today's tract homes.
Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 4, 2009 5:23 PM
So funny you should post about this. It's one of those things I've been noticing for years. Yeah, certainly, it's what the two posters above said: the moldings were stock and machine-made (after about 1860) and they just did not take care to avoid it by placing doors and windows differently.
But it's funny how times or the mentality has changed. To us, it seems odd they wouldn't plan for it, yet the moldings in general would be so elaborate. My last apt had gorgeous mitered moldings (mitered in place, and carefully) running around at chair rail height in the kitchen, but the cut-off door surrounds you mention in the hall and bathroom.
You wouldn't get that today. But you wouldn't get the decorative detail either.
Posted by: mopar at March 4, 2009 11:53 PM
Detail today is paint over primer white!
Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 5, 2009 10:20 AM
This has been a regular feature of all periods of interior architecture since the renaissance. You're only noticing it more now since most of the buildings you're encountering are Victorian or later, and victorian moldings, being more than twice the size of more recent detailing, are much more noticeable when cut down. Having visited a number of new construction home lately I can assure you that builders still do this when a door or window is too close to a perpendicular wall. If the molding is narrow, and painted to match the surrounding wall (as most new construction would be) you wouldn't notice it as much, but trust me, it's there.
Posted by: brikenny at March 7, 2009 12:03 AM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.