First impressions count. In houses it’s the front door that constitutes the welcoming committee, offering entry into the private realm of the home. Architects Tryggvi Thorsteinsson and Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir like to heighten the impact of that initial passage in the houses they design. “We love the transitions between interior and exterior,” Thorsteinsson says, “and one of the things we play around with is doors that go floor to ceiling with no header.” In the case of this Venice, Calif., house (also see pages 26–28), that meant a pivoting leaf 16 feet tall.
To create a door with a surface as intriguing as its dimensions, the architects directed craftsman Dino Pierone of Los Angeles–based Real Door toward his own pile of off-cuts. Laminating strips of walnut, Douglas fir, maple, oak, and other species, Pierone composed a design—call it psychedelic butcher block—whose flowing lines contrast with the door’s slablike form. A steel-frame core keeps weight down (to a mere 600 pounds), so the unit pivots easily on self-closing hardware.
