First impressions - Telegraph
First impressions
 
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Meet and greet: Arts & Crafts door at Hazelbank, near Stockton Heath, in Cheshire (top); A modern planked door is the choice for this re-built property in Beaconsfield 
 
Your pictures: Have you got a front door to be proud of?
It takes just eight seconds to decide whether or not you will buy a house, according to the latest research. And at least four of them will be spent waiting at the front door. Lord Lloyd-Webber has a mahogany one, Richard Rogers has a white one, and Kate Middleton has just installed a pair of them, in black. "People look at a front door before they look at anything else," says designer Cecilia Neal, of Meltons. "Your front door reflects what you think about the house. A door can sell a property."
An Oxford blue, Edwardian front door with stained- and etched-glass panels and side windows sold a house in Putney to Susie King. "After being shown round by the agent, I drove back there that night, parked outside and just stared at the door. I wanted to live behind it so badly," she says. A decade later, when it came to repainting the door, it took 12 attempts to mix the right shade of blue.
But a door can also jeopardise a sale. "We have had a buyer who refused to complete until we repainted the front door as it was green, which they felt was unlucky," says Andy Buchanan, director of John D Wood, Chelsea.
Doors, it seems, are the one thing property owners are not prepared to compromise over. "People want to get it right," says Kerry Walters, of The London Door Company (020 7801 0877; www.londondoor.co.uk ), which has made bespoke front doors for Jeremy Beadle, Ant and Dec and Kensington Palace. "They see a new front door as an investment - they realise it can transform the look of a property." And if they don't, agents are quick to tell them. "If a door is a horrid colour, or has naff, crinkly glass, it is a big turn-off," says Richard Gaynor, head of Savills country house department.
But while more of us are investing in tailor-made front doors, costing at least twice as much as a ready-made one from Magnet or B&Q, we are reluctant to be particularly adventurous. The doors on display in The London Door Company showrooms would sell time and time again, if Mr Walters didn't cajole customers into making personal decisions about panels, mullions and hand-made mouldings.
"Victorian splendour with stained glass was fashionable in the 1980s and 1990s, but now four-panelled doors are the most popular, sometimes with the top two panels made of glass," says Mr Walters.
A front door must be appropriate to a house, says Jeremy Musson, Architecture Editor of Country Life. Planked doors can work well on barn or warehouse conversions or new-builds. But there is no escaping the universal charm of the Georgian front door - "solid, well constructed, but at the same time curiously domestic and welcoming" - rather like the blue one belonging to Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill. "The classic Georgian combination of solid, panelled door with a glazed fanlight over the top, as in London and Dublin, and Bath and Liverpool terraces, is just magic," says Mr Musson.
There is nothing to say classic Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian styles cannot be used on new houses. Properties on the Wentworth and St George's Hill estates, in Surrey, tend to use classical styles on a larger scale - taller and wider with vast porticos, illustrating that owners are happier to experiment with the size of a door rather than its style or colour. "Double doors are vital for new-builds over £2 million," says Simon Ashwell, of Savills. "They give an impression of a much wider frontage. I will always tell a developer to put in a double door." Savills is selling Park Hill, St George's Hill, an Edwardian-style new build with double front doors for £12 million (01932 838004).
Ms Neal advises clients to select a door that matches their style of house but suggests they use contemporary paint colours and door furniture if they want a more modern look. "A door should never be dislocated from a house, but if you want to go contemporary, use Scandinavian-style colours and chrome door furniture," she says.
These washed-out greys, greens and blues are all the rage. "I think we're responsible for the grey front door," says Mr Walters. "We supply the door primed and painted with undercoat. But people liked the undercoat so much we found ourselves mixing the top coat to match the undercoat." Paint supplier Farrow & Ball has noted the trend: "We are finding that the blue palette, French Gray, Pigeon and Pale Powder are the most popular," says a spokesperson.
But before repainting your door battleship grey, make sure you are allowed to do so. Property owners in Royal Crescent, Bath, and certain London streets would need listed building consent to alter the colour of their front doors - and the door furniture in some cases.
In the Duchy of Cornwall's Poundbury village, in Dorset, front doors must conform to a certain palette. "We try to ensure, if the street scene is dark colours [dark blue, blacks and reds], that the doors remain those colours and the same applies to pastels," says Poundbury site manager Peter James. "For any alteration you have to apply to the Duchy Office and there's a certain palette you can choose from." So far, Mr James has not had to veto any colour requests - perhaps another indication that the British prefer to be conservative about their front doors.
In fact, No10 Downing Street, Britain's most famous front door, has changed in appearance only once in 300 years. It was an "unlucky" dark green for a brief spell at the beginning of the 19th century, when Herbert Asquith was prime minister - before he fell out of favour and resigned in 1916. Number10 has been black ever since. It even bears a wonky "0" in the number 10 - a tribute to the original door, which had a badly fitted zero.
COLOUR
Get inspiration from your neighbours - a unified look along a street is more appealing. Crown paints has brought out a clever guide, enabling you to match your neighbour's door colour exactly (Crown 08870 241 6457). Red, black and blue gloss work well on most houses, while more unusual colours (purple, orange, turquoise) and odd shades are to be avoided. Use green by all means - but be warned that some people take exception to it.
Choose matt paints for an understated appearance and bleached pastel colours to achieve a flat, contemporary look. Stained-wood doors can look good so long as the wood is good quality and well varnished. Farrow & Ball (01202 876141; www.farrow-ball.com ). Dulux (0870 4441111; www.dulux.com ).
DOOR FURNITURE
Door knobs, knockers and letterboxes should be in keeping with one another and sympathetic to the size and style of the door. Simple brass ring knockers and "Doctor's" door knockers, popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, are two simple styles that suit both panelled and plank doors. Octagonal or round door knobs and handles and plain letterboxes work well with this simple look. Lionhead knockers and knobs with ornate embellishment are typical of the Queen Anne period while reeded (ridged) door furniture was used in late Georgian and early Victorian times. Edwardian door furniture is plain, with simple reeding, while Victorian is slightly heavier. Traditional-style door furniture coated in brushed and polished chrome and nickel creates a more contemporary look and works well with flatter, lighter colours. For top-of-the-range or custom-made door furniture, visit Drummonds (020 7376 4499; www.drummonds-arch.co.uk ), or JBBeardmore, which still uses original casts and molds from the 19th century and top-quality British brass ( www.beardmore.co.uk ). Good-quality generic door furniture is available at Danico ( www.danico.co.uk ) and Magnet ( www.magnet.co.uk ).
WHERE TO BUY: SALVAGE YARDS
The perfect front door or door furniture could be waiting for you in a salvage yard. Often, doors salvaged from older properties will match your house better than the existing door but make sure you invest in good locks and ironmongery. Cox's Architectural Salvage has one of the largest stocks of reclaimed doors in Britain, and can also make Victorian four-panel, Georgian six-panel, Edwardian five- panel and 1930s doors with quarter windows to order from reclaimed pine. Customers are advised to buy a door before making a frame to ensure a wider choice (01608 652505; www.coxsarchitectural.co.uk ). Neville Griffiths ( www.nevillegriffiths.co.uk ), Walcot Reclamation ( www.walcot.com ) and Architectural Treasures ( www.architecturaltreasures.co.uk ) also have a wide range of salvaged doors and door furniture.
FOLIAGE
The plants surrounding your door are almost as important as the door itself. In a recent survey, jasmine and roses were voted top for adding value to a property, while leylandaii was found to put potential buyers off. Clipped box trees and hedge either side of a front door create a tidy composition but make sure they are in attractive containers and well watered - dying plants can kill your chance of a quick sale.
Door types
William and Mary (1689-1702)
Winslow Hall, in Buckinghamshire, built by Christopher Wren, features a glazed, William and Mary front door. The house is on the market with Savills (020 7499 8644) and Jackson-Stops & Staff (020 7664 6646) for £3 million.
Late Georgian (1770-1800)
Late Georgian doors were usually white, black, or very dark (National Trust) green and made of solid timber, with panels and a glazed fanlight above. Westcott Lodge, a former rectory in Chiswick, west London, features this type of door, with a plain-ring knocker. The property, which has balconies overlooking the Thames, is available for rent through Savills (020 7499 8644).
Victorian age (1837-1901)
Victorian doors were solid oak or painted white, dark blue, brown, dark red and olive-yellow green. They often featured elaborately stained or etched glass and heavy door furniture. The Victorian gothic-style front door and porch at Shanganagh, in Wimbledon, south London, leads into a wide entrance hall. There are four reception rooms and four bedrooms. £3.75 million; Savills (020 8971 8111; www.savills.co.uk ).
Art Deco (1910-1939)
An oval or square stained-glass window in top third of the door, and two or three vertical panels in the lower two thirds, characterise an Art Deco front door. Hazelbank, near Stockton Heath, in Cheshire, with four bedrooms, and a green Art Deco front door is on the market with Jackson-Stops & Staff (0161 928 8881) for £875,000.
Arts & Crafts (1880-1920)
Arts & Crafts front doors and door funiture were inspired by medieval design and ranged from simple, linear styles to Romantic gothicism and Queen Anne. A simple, half-glazed black Arts & Crafts door at Coombe Barton in Wimbledon (pictured above; £2.5 million; Savills: 020 89718111).
Modern planked
A modern, horizontal planked front door is in keeping with this newly rebuilt property in Beaconsfield (pictured above). Situated on a quiet no-through road within a few minutes' walk of Waitrose, the house has six bedrooms and a landscaped, south-facing garden. £1,675,000 Savills (01494 731950; www.savills.co.uk ).
Dos and don'ts
Play safe - remember a new front door should be in keeping with the property.
Don't make life difficult - buy a door before making a door frame.
Do keep your front door neatly painted and the plants around it well watered.
Make sure your door furniture is in proportion to the size of the door.
Do check you have permission to make alterations.