Rising far above Monument's 7,000 foot elevation, this beautiful home was built with the same splendor as the ancient castles of centuries past. Arches, columns, marble, and superb Cherry (among other things) grace both the ins and outs of this home. Rarely does one come across such a homeowner that has the vision and taste to maintain a perfect level of consistency and originality throughout a home, though the creator of this residence achieved just that. His attention to detail was present in everything from the heated marble floors to the multi-level, multi-shaped ceilings, and everything in between (doors, cabinets, furnishings, fixtures, etc). My Door Company was fortunate enough to play an integral part in the finishings of this immaculate castle, namely the entry-way door, all the interior doors, and the kitchen cabinetry. As we dive into our projects that rest within the walls of the Shaker Castle, we extend many thanks to the man with the driving vision behind our work.
We begin with the commanding front door - like we always say on the shop floor of My Door Company, "no better way to greet your friends and family than with a most grand entrance." This castle does just that - this magnificent entry-way door is a plank-style, round-top pair with oval-headed wooden clavos (plugs). The exterior of the front door is Alder, and the interior is Select Cherry to match the woodwork on the inside of the house. My Door Company has built a variety of doors with two species of wood - one type on the inside, another on the outside. This is done for a variety of reasons, but mainly to match different woodworking schemes or for different finishes (paint on the outside, stain on the inside).
As we have discussed before, Alder is a common hardwood used for cabinets and furniture, originating from Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. American Cherry (Prunus Serotina) is grown in both the USA and Canada, and much like Alder, is used mainly for furniture, cabinets, and turnery - though it is also used in pianos, violin bows and other musical instruments. Also known as New England mahogany, an American Cherry tree typically grows 80 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 feet. Strangely enough, extensive industrial contact with Cherry wood and sawdust can cause wheezing and giddiness (Alder has been linked to Dermatitis and some bronchial problems). Though not to worry, these health problems are easily avoided - simply take advantage of the custom handcrafted doors and cabinets available from My Door Company, one of the industry's leaders in overall safety and safe-woodworking techniques.
Not only did the wood vary between the inside and out on this front door, but the style itself was entirely different. As you can see from the photos below, the wooden arches on the interior of the door set (right) mirrors the stone arches on the outside of the house (left). The double doors of this unit were 2 1/4 inches thick and the overall unit was 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
Let us now step into the extravagance of the interior of the Shaker Castle - we move onto the doors of the inside. Between the bedrooms, bathrooms, office, closets, pantry, so on and so on, My Door Company built almost 30 doors (not including the entry-way door unit). As stated before, the consistency of this home was incredible, and the interior doors were no exception. As you can tell from the below images, they have the appearance of a 7-panel stile and rail door - though each door was made from a single sheet of fiberboard.
We started with an 4'x8' sheet of MDF (medium density fiberboard), cut each sheet to size, routed out the shape and designs, then added moulding to the face of the door around the routed edges to give each door more dimension (the below image shows an up-close view of an unpainted section). MDF is an engineered wood product, and while is does not work great in all woodworking applications (for example, you cannot stain it), it was perfect for this type of painted door. The interior doors are all 8 feet tall and 1 3/4 inches thick (with various widths), and probably some of the heaviest doors ever built - each one has a set of 4 solid ball-bearing hinges to maintain swinging ability.
As if the interior and exterior doors were not enough, we now expand beyond into the other woodwork of the Shaker Castle. Since My Door Company understands the true nature of woodworking, we are proud to offer cabinets and other specialty items to maintain the custom nature of any remodel or new construction. The kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities of The Shaker Caster were also made from select Cherry, all made to match to the front door. The images below, of course, do not give the woodwork justice, though one can begin to see some of the intricacies that are present, not just in the kitchen, but throughout the house. (More on cabinets and other specialty items from My Door Company in the coming weeks - enjoy the photos below!)
(If you look real close on the image directly above left, you can see another example of the MDF interior doors.)
For those of us at My Door Company who were able to work on the Shaker Castle projects, the experience was nothing but unforgettable - we extend our many thanks to Mr. Shaker himself, who is now a close friend of all us of here at My Door Company. And as usual, we thank you, the readers, for taking the time to visit the Official Blog of My Door Company - swing back next week for more on the custom handcrafted doors and cabinets from Colorado's Finest Door Company.
And of course in the meantime, give us a call or visit www.MyDoorCo.com for more info.
-rh@mdc
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