First Avinue Front Door

Our home we built on First Avenue in Oro Valley was to be our dream house and it was in many ways that I will describe in future posts.  This post features the massive front door I built for this home.  It follows the early European thinking that the front door to your home should be an indication of the residence sophistication.  I wasn't that concerned about displaying our sophistication but rather the opportunity to add unique decoration to our special home.

The door is roughly four feet wide and eight feet tall.  It is carried on four heavy duty ball bearing hinges and is held closed with two spring loaded catches.  It also is fitted with a dead bolt lock for security.  We found it necessary to use the dead bolt lock if there was a wind against the door.  The surface area of the door would generate enough forge from a brisk wind to push the door open.  The catches were set so that a person could pull the door open without a struggle.  The setting of the home on a ridge between two washes experienced plenty of brisk breezes and there for the dead bolt was locked most of the time.

The pull was fashioned of flat steel and a 1 1/2 pipe.  The flat steel was used to strengthen joints and repeated the pulls design. These features were repeated on both sides of the door and held together with 1/4 inch bolts.  All metal pieces were blued with a torch.  The decorative pieces were fastened to a 5/8 inch  center layer of plywood.  Notice that a pattern of Saguaro sections were used to ,lead the eye of the viewer around the surface.  Plain strips of fur were used to cover the plywood core around the saguaro design.  A viewing window was Incorporated in the upper portion of the door.  It was constructed with colored glass segments that were transparent enough to allow vision of the person o/n the other side of the door. A lavender stain that Joann mixed was used over the entire door and a clear sealer covered it as a final finish.

  *More detail on my art can be found at my website <www.apatchablue.com>
The full story of these and other adventures are covered in detail in my soon to be published autobiography, "Which Road Should I Follow?  Volumes One and Two".