The Pantry Door

The pantry door is a favorite of anyone who sees it. The pantry door is unique. It has a rustic grained finish, ornate finials at the top and bottom of the hinges and a “Iron Willow” signature.

It consists of a heavy gauge iron and mortar frame. The 1 ¾” redwood planking has a pickled finish. The door has heavy iron strap hinges and hardware.

My mom, Monica Guillen, is an antique dealer and owner of an antique store here in Sacramento. She found the door on her travels and insisted that we incorporate it into the house. I’m glad she did. The kitchen pantry door seemed the perfect location and even though the swing is not what I would have preferred, I think the pantry door is simply awesome.

The Front Door

The front door is one of the most important architectural elements in the front of the house. We invested a lot of time and effort on the front door. This past weekend we reached a big milestone when it went in.

As we searched for a style of front door to suit the architectural theme, we always came back to a stained wooden elliptically arched door. In our research we found most Tudor style houses have a front door constructed out of either white oak or mahogany (some are even painted). We wanted a stained wood door and preferred the deep red/brown hues present in mahogany to colors in the white oak.

We incorporated a “speak-easy” on the door. A “speak-easy” is a little opening in the door supplying visibility to the outside to see who is there without actually opening the door. It has a protective grid (sometimes ornately decorated) on the outside of the door and an operative latched door on the inside. We also incorporated heavy decorated straps to match the garage. A large iron handle finishes off the majestic or strong appearance adding to the homes “curbside appeal.”


I framed the doorway opening, made the form and shaped the elliptical jam head. After that, I hand selected the mahogany lumber to be used to construct the door. I provided the templates and Sam Choo and Andy Foley from Holm’s Woodworks (owner Steve Holm) did the rest. Sam and Andy are incredible craftsman. Sam is my mentor when it comes to anything to do with woodworking.

The door is 2 3/8” thick, 38” wide, 86” high. It is 100% mahogany hardwood. The solid mahogany jam and casing add depth and detail to this masterpiece. Once the door was onsite, I stained and finished it. Then, I cut in the “speak-easy” and installed all the hardware. Finally, I performed the door installation. This proved to be difficult to do by myself considering the weight of the door, but somehow I mustered up the strength.