Dutch Doors and Dreaming

A Dutch door (American English), stable door (British English), or half door (Hiberno English), is a door divided horizontally in such a fashion that the bottom half may remain shut while the top half opens. 

They were known in early New England as a double-hung door.The initial purpose of this door design was to keep animals out of farmhouses or to keep children inside while allowing light and air to filter through the open top; essentially combining a door with a fairly large window. When the top half was open they also allowed a breeze, but stopped the wind from blowing dirt into the house. This type of door was common in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and appears in Dutch paintings of the period. They were also commonly found in the Dutch cultural areas of New York and New Jersey before the American Revolution. {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_door}

One of the things I love about our new house are the Dutch doors!  Mrs. Nell was obviously a fan!  Although I never met her, I learned that we are both Colonial Williamsburg enthusiasts.  The only caveat is that Mrs. Nell put Dutch doors EVERYWHERE in the house!  I think there are 6.  I've included some images of the current Dutch doors below. 

Hi! Let's renovate!

About 5 years ago, we bought and renovated our current house.  I had so much fun during the process, I had to jump in with another project!  When we realized that our current house was just not our "forever home", I started looking for another place that more suited our family's needs.  Our new home, "the 1036", ticked a lot of our boxes!  I wanted a family home that had been loved (but not renovated) on a larger lot.  We needed something with good bones and room for our 3 kiddos to play and learn.  Having a space that could be beautiful, yet more functional for our family was top priority!  I'm such an old house nerd, so I needed it to be an old house.  We love the convenience of the new place to our UMS school, church, and work!  Here are a few before pictures!

The original blueprint from the 1950's

Following, I'll post some "before" photos" so that you can see what we're working with!