DOORWAYS AND PORCHES
Invariably one associates a house with its front entrance, for the
doorway is the dominant feature of the facade, the keynote so to speak.
Truly utilitarian in purpose, and so lending itself more logically to
elaboration for the sake of decorative effect, the doorway became the
principal single feature of a Colonial exterior. When designed in
complete accord with the house it lends distinction and charm to the
building as a whole.
Like men, doorways have character and individuality. Indeed, in their
individuality they reflect the character of those who built them. They
symbolize the house as a whole and usually the mien of its occupants;
they create the first impressions which the guest has of his host, and
foretell more or less accurately the sort of welcome to be expected.
The houses of Philadelphia and vicinity, perhaps more than those of any
other American city, possess the charm of architectural merit combined
with historic interest. To appreciate more fully the important part
played by Philadelphians in early American affairs, we study their
houses and home life, and as the primary index to the domestic
architecture of the vicinity we direct our attention to the doorways and
porches.
Like the houses, the doorways range in architectural pretension from the
unaffected simplicity of Wyck to the stately elaboration of Cliveden and
Mount Pleasant, and possess distinctive characteristics not seen
elsewhere. Wealth made Philadelphia the most fashionable American city
of the time, with all the attendant rivalries and jealousies of such a
condition. Desiring to put the best foot foremost, elaboration of the
doorway provided a ready means to display the self-esteem, affluence and
social position of the owner. Naturally the Quaker severity of former
years was reflected in many of these outward manifestations of home
life, and it is a study of absorbing interest to note the proportions
and resulting spirit, so unlike New England doorways, which the local
builders gave to their adaptations from the same Renaissance motives.
Summed up in a sentence, the high, narrow doorways of Philadelphia, for
the most part without the welcoming side lights of New England, speak
truly of Quaker severity and the exclusiveness of the old aristocratic
families.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.--Window and Shutters, Free Quakers' Meeting
House, Fifth and Arch Streets; Second Story Window, Free Quakers'
Meeting House.]
[Illustration: PLATE XLV.--Detail of Windows, Combes Alley; Window and
Shutters, Cliveden; Window, Bartram House.]
As to the doors themselves, four distinct types were common throughout
the Colonial period. Single and double doors were equally popular,
high, narrow double doors being favored for the more pretentious
houses, although instances are not lacking of single doors in the
mansions of Colonial times. With very few exceptions molded and raised
panels with broad bevels were used in all, and it is according to the
arrangement of these panels that the different types of doors are best
classified.
One of the earliest and simplest was the six-panel single door with
three stiles of about equal width, top and frieze rail about the same,
bottom rail somewhat wider and lock rail about double the width of the
frieze rail. The upper pair of panels were not quite high enough to be
square, while the middle and lower pairs were oblong in shape, the
middle one being higher than the lower. Rarely this relation was
reversed, and the lower pair was higher than the middle pair, the door
at Number 6504 Germantown Avenue being an example. As found in the
farmhouses of Germantown and thereabouts, notably Wyck, Glen Fern, the
Green Tree Inn and the Johnson and Billmeyer houses, these six-panel
doors were split horizontally through the lock rail, dividing them into
an upper and lower part. This arrangement made it possible to open the
upper part for ventilation while keeping the lower part closed to
prevent stray animals and fowls from entering the house. Numerous
examples of undivided six-panel doors are shown by accompanying
illustrations and referred to in detail in succeeding paragraphs. Of
these the door of Grumblethorpe is unique in having a double stile in
the middle, giving almost the appearance of double doors.
Three-panel double doors, such as those of Mount Pleasant, Solitude and
Port Royal House, were less common than any of the four principal types
mentioned, and were little used except for a few decades after the
middle of the eighteenth century. Like six-panel single doors, the upper
panel was often almost square, and the middle oblong panel higher than
the bottom one of the same shape. At Mount Pleasant the middle and lower
panels were of the same size.
Eight-panel single doors were employed extensively throughout the
eighteenth century, and this is one of the most picturesque and
distinctive of Philadelphia types. For the most part the panels were
arranged as shown by the doors of the Perot-Morris, Powel and Wharton
houses with a pair of small and large panels in alternation. Other
notable instances are to be seen at Loudoun, Chalkley Hall and the
Blackwell house. The top or first and third pairs were about half as
high as their width, while the second and fourth pairs were oblong and
usually of the same size, their height about one and one-half times
their width. The door at Upsala is a rare instance of the fourth pair of
panels lower than the second, whereas that at Number 301 South Seventh
Street shows this type with molded flat panels. As is well shown by the
door of the Perot-Morris house, the fourth rail was the broad lock rail,
and as in those days the latch was often separate, it was frequently
placed on the rail above, and hence often referred to as the latch rail.
Another less common type of eight-panel single door is shown in
accompanying illustrations by doors at Number 4908 Germantown Avenue,
Number 39 Fisher's Lane, Wayne Junction and Number 224 South Eighth
Street. The panel arrangement consisted of three pairs of nearly square
panels above the lock rail and one pair twice as high below. Of the
doors mentioned, that at Wayne Junction is unique in its flat molded
panels.
A corresponding panel arrangement of double doors is to be seen at The
Highlands. Usually, however, four-panel double doors took the alternate
small and large panel arrangement and were virtually halves of the more
common type of eight-panel single door. Such doors at Stenton, Cliveden
and the Morris house are illustrated in detail, and similar ones gave
entrance to Hope Lodge, Woodford and Vernon. The Woodford doors are
interesting for their glazed quatrefoil openings in the top pair of
panels, the Vernon doors for a handsome brass knocker on the second
panel of each one.
For the most part Philadelphia doorways were deeply recessed in
connection with stone construction because of the great thickness of
the walls. Paneled jambs were let into the reveals of the opening, and
whatever the panel arrangement of the door, a corresponding arrangement
was followed in paneling the jambs and the soffit of the arch or flat
lintel above. Such a distinctive and pleasing feature did this become
that it was widely adapted to brick construction, the outward projection
of pilasters and engaged columns, often both, supporting pediments and
entablatures which had the effect of increasing the depth of brick
walls.
The simplest type of Philadelphia doorway is that common to the ledge
and "brick" stone farmhouses of Germantown, of which the doorway of the
Johnson house is perhaps the best example. These houses usually had a
penthouse roof along the second-floor level, and as in this instance a
pediment springing from this roof usually formed a hood above the
doorway. Although this doorway with its molded casings, four-paned
horizontal transom and single door with six molded and raised panels is
of the most modest character, its simple lines and good proportions
present an effect of picturesque charm. The door is divided horizontally
into two parts, after the Dutch manner, like many farmhouse doors of the
neighborhood. The position of the drop handle replacing the usual knob
indicates the size of the great rim lock within, and the graceful design
of the brass knocker is justly one of the most popular to-day. The
seats flanking the entrance are unique and unlike any others in
Philadelphia, although those between the two doors of the Billmeyer
house near by are similar.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.--Window, Stenton; Window and Shutters, 128
Race Street.]
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII.--Dormer, Witherill House, 130 North Front
Street; Dormer, 6105 Germantown Avenue, Germantown; Foreshortened
Window, Morris House; Dormer, Stenton; Window and Shutters, Witherill
House; Window and Blinds, 6105 Germantown Avenue.]
Substantially the same sort of doorway without the seats is to be seen
at the old Green Tree Inn, Number 6019 Germantown Avenue, Germantown,
erected in 1748. Here, however, the effect is slightly enriched by a
nicely hand-tooled ovolo molding in the cornice of the penthouse roof
that is repeated with an elliptical fan design in the pediment of the
hood.
Another type of Philadelphia doorway only a little more elaborate than
the foregoing is well illustrated at Number 114 League Street and Number
5933 Germantown Avenue. Above the architrave casing across the lintel of
these deeply recessed doorways a frieze and pediment form an effective
doorhead. The pedimental League Street doorhead is supported by
hand-carved consoles at opposite ends, that of the Germantown Avenue
doorhead by fluted pilasters. An oval shell pattern adorns the frieze of
the former, while a denticulated molding enriches the latter. As
contrasted with the plain cased frame of the former, the latter has
paneled jambs and soffit, the spacing corresponding with that of the
door. Both doors are of the popular six-panel type with nicely molded
and raised panels, and both doorheads are elaborated by short, broader
sections of the vertical casings near the top. In refinement of detail
and proportion, and in precision of workmanship the Germantown Avenue
doorway surpasses that on League Street.
But the characteristic type of pedimental door trim in Philadelphia
takes a different form. About the middle of the eighteenth century the
plain horizontal transom above outside doors was generally replaced by
the more graceful semicircular fanlight, the glass area of which was
divided by sash bars or leaded lines into numerous radiating patterns of
more or less grace and beauty. By omitting the entablature of the common
horizontal doorhead and breaking the base of the pediment, the round
arch of the fanlight was made to fit very nicely within the sloping
sides of the pediment, the keystone of the arched casing occupying the
upper angle beneath the peak of the gable. Pilasters or engaged columns
support the pediment, their upper molded portion above the necking being
carried across the horizontal lintel of the door frame. From the
capitals up to the short cornice returns, replacing the usual base of
the pediment, the spirit of the entablature is retained by pilaster
projections molded after the manner of cornice, frieze and architrave.
Excellent doorways such as this with fluted pilaster casings, single
doors with six molded and raised panels of familiar arrangement and
paneled jambs and soffit to correspond are to be seen at Number 5011
Germantown Avenue, Germantown, and Number 247 Pine Street. The former
is of considerable breadth, as Philadelphia doorways go, and the
fanlight is of rather too intricate pattern and heavy scale. The latter
is exceptionally narrow, with pilasters in accord and a fanlight of
chaste simplicity. Like many others the door itself is dark painted and
in striking contrast to the other white wood trim. One notices at once
the strange placing of the knob at the top rather than in the middle of
the lock rail, and the footscraper in a separate block of marble in the
sidewalk at one side of the marble steps, the inference being that one
should scrupulously wipe his feet before approaching the door.
Similar to these, but showing better proportion and greater refinement
of detail, is the entrance to the Morris house, one of the best known
doorways in Philadelphia and notable as one of the relatively few
pedimental doorways of this type having the high four-panel double
doors. The pediment framing the simple but very graceful fanlight is
enriched by cornice moldings, hand-tooled to fine scale, the soffit of
the corona being fluted, the bed-molding reeded and the dentil course
being a familiar Grecian fret. Flutings also adorn the short architraves
each side of the fanlight, and the abacus of the pilaster columns which
is carried across a supplementary lintel in front of the lintel proper,
the latter being several inches to the rear because of the deeply
recessed arrangement of the door. The detail combines Doric and Ionic
inspiration. An attractive knocker, simple brass knob and exceptionally
large key plate indicating the great rim lock within, lend a quaint
charm to a doorway distinctly pleasing in its entirety.
Two excellent doorways of this general type having paneled instead of
fluted pilaster casings may be seen at Number 6504 Germantown Avenue,
Germantown, and Number 701 South Seventh Street. The former is broad and
has a six-panel door much like that at Number 5011 Germantown Avenue,
but the fanlight is of simpler pattern and withal more pleasing. A
fine-scale dentil course lends interest to the pedimental cornice, while
the frieze portions of the entablature section of the pilasters are
elaborated by flutings and drillings, the latter suggestive of a
festoon. A knocker of slender grace is the best feature of the hardware.
The South Seventh Street entrance, higher and narrower, presents another
example of the dark-painted door rendered the more interesting by reason
of its eight-panel arrangement, the spacing being that usually employed
for double doors. The wood trim, molded but nowhere carved, commends
itself for effective simplicity. Two marble steps, the upper one very
deep, with an attractive iron rail on the buttresses at each side,
complete a doorway picture that is typically Philadelphian.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVIII.--Shutter Fastener, Cliveden; Shutter
Fastener, Wyck; Shutter Fastener, Perot-Morris House; Shutter Fastener,
6043 Germantown Avenue.]
[Illustration: PLATE XLIX.--Detail of Round Headed Window, Congress
Hall; Detail of Round Headed Window, Christ Church.]
Surpassing both of the foregoing, however, is the doorway at Number 709
Spruce Street. Indeed, it is among the best of its type in the city. It
has the simple excellence in detail of the South Seventh Street doorway,
with better proportion, less height of pediment and greater apparent
breadth, owing to the six-panel arrangement of the door and the fact
that it is white like the wood trim about it. The only carved molding is
the Grecian fret of the dentil course in the pedimental cornice. Here
again another favorite knocker pattern greets the eye.
Engaged round columns, usually smooth and standing in front of wide
pilasters, were often pleasing features of these pedimental doorways. In
such instances the projection was so great that the entablature sections
above the columns were square, and the soffit of the corona in the
pediment was paneled. Two notable instances may be cited at Number 5200
Germantown Avenue, Germantown, and Number 4927 Frankford Avenue. Both
have the familiar six-panel doors with corresponding paneled jambs and
arch soffit, attractively simple fanlights and much fine-scale hand
carving in the pedimental cornice and architrave casing of the keyed
arch. The former displays better taste. Effective use is made of a
reeded ovolo, and the fascia of the architrave bears a pleasing
hand-tooled band of vertical flutes with a festooned flat fillet
running through it. The most distinctive feature, however, is the double
denticulated molding of the pedimental cornice with prominent drilled
holes in each dentil alternately at top and bottom.
Although representing a high degree of the wood-carvers' art, the other
doorway is rather over-ornate in its detail. The reeded ovolo is again
prominent, and the fascia of the architrave of the arch bears a familiar
decorative motive consisting of groups of five flutes in alternation
with a conventionalized flower. The dentil course of the pedimental
cornice takes the form of a peculiar reeded H pattern which is repeated
in much finer scale on the edge of the corona, the abacus of the
capitals and its continuation across the lintel of the door. Least
pleasing of all is the fluting of the frieze portion of the entablature
sections with three sets of drillings suggestive of festoons.
Another admirable type of doorway, of which there are many examples in
Philadelphia, frames the high, round-headed arch of the doorway with
tall, slender engaged columns supporting a massive entablature above the
semicircular fanlight over the door. Almost without exception the
entablature is some variation of the Ionic order with denticulated
bed-mold in the cornice, plain flat frieze and molded architrave, the
latter sometimes enriched by incised decorative bands. The columns are
Doric and smooth. They stand in front of more widely spaced pilasters,
which are virtually a broadening of the casings of the door frame, and
which support a second entablature back of the first and somewhat wider.
The two combined form a doorhead with projection almost equal to a hood,
but the effect is far more stately.
Such a doorway in its simplest form, with columns tapering considerably
toward the top, in accordance with a prevalent local custom of the time,
is to be seen on the Powel house, Number 244 South Third Street. The
sash divisions of the fanlight are unique, suggesting both Gothic
tracery and the lotus flower. The single, high eight-panel door recalls
many having a similar arrangement of molded and raised panels, but
differs from most of them in that the lock rail is about double the
width of the two rails above.
Narrower, with more slender columns, and thus seemingly higher, is the
doorway of the Wharton house, Number 336 Spruce Street. While the
entablature is generally similar, the moldings adhere less closely to
the classic order, and the same is true of the exceptionally slender
columns. An enriched ovolo suggesting a quarter section of a cylinder
and two disks in alternation lends added refinement to the paneled jambs
and the architrave casing of the arch with its hand-carved keystone. The
fanlight is of simple but pleasing pattern, and the eight-panel door is
of characteristic design.
At Number 301 South Seventh Street the doorway itself strongly resembles
that of the Powel house, except that it is higher, narrower and rather
lighter in scale. However, the wing flights of stone steps on the
sidewalk leading to a broad landing before the door and the handsome
wrought-iron rail lend individuality and rare charm to this notable
example of a familiar type.
The doorway of Grumblethorpe, Number 5621 Germantown Avenue, Germantown,
differs little in general appearance, if considerably in detail, from
that of the Powel house. One notices first how deeply recessed it is
because of the thickness of the stone walls. With the projecting
entablature it affords almost as much shelter as a porch. The single
door next attracts attention. Of six-panel and familiar arrangement, it
differs from most of this sort in having a double stile in the middle,
the effect simulating double doors. A simple, hand-tooled ovolo
ornaments the jambs and architrave casings of the keyed arch. It is also
repeated above the double denticulated member of the cornice, the latter
enriched by a hole drilled in each dentil alternately above and below.
Daintiness and simplicity characterize the fanlight pattern set in lead
lines.
The doorway at Number 6105 Germantown Avenue, Germantown, may be
regarded as one of the best of the more ornate examples of this type.
[Illustration: PLATE L.--Fenestration, Chancel End, St. Peter's
Church.]
[Illustration: PLATE LI.--Details of Round Headed Windows, Christ
Church.]
It has fluted columns, an intricately hand-tooled dentil course in the
cornice, richly incised architraves and carved ovolo moldings. The
denticulated molding has fluted dentils with horizontal connecting
members forming a sort of continuous H pattern. An incised band of
dainty grace adorns the architrave of the entablature. It consists of
groups of five vertical flutes in alternation with drillings forming
upward and downward arcs or double festoons. The architrave of the arch
and lintel has a slightly different incised pattern. There are the same
fluted groups with oval ornaments composed of drillings between. The
door itself is of the regulation six-panel arrangement.
Few doorways in the Corinthian order are to be found in what may
properly be termed the Colonial architecture of Philadelphia, for this
order was little used by American builders until early in the nineteenth
century. The doorway of Doctor Denton's house in Germantown instances
its employment in a somewhat original manner. The entablature follows
the classic order closely, except for the tiny consoles of the dentil
course and the incised decoration of the upper fascia of the architrave,
consisting of a band of elongated hexagons which is repeated across the
lintel of the door and the imposts of the arch. A Latin quotation,
"Procuc este profans", meaning "Be far from here that which is unholy",
is carved in the architrave casing over the fanlight. The columns are
fluted, but have the Doric rather than the usual Corinthian capitals.
Double blind doors such as are a feature of this entrance were the
predecessor of the modern screen door. Arbor vitae trees in square wooden
tubs on the broad top step each side of the doorway complete a formal
treatment of dignity and attractiveness.
Rarely occurred a doorway having a complete entablature above a fanlight
surmounted by a pediment. The east and west entrances of Mount Pleasant
offer two splendid examples, massive and dignified. While much alike in
several respects, they differ sufficiently in detail to afford an
interesting comparison. In size and general arrangement in their double
three-panel doors and smooth columns, they greatly resemble each other.
Although not pure, the doorway of the west or river front is essentially
Tuscan and of the utmost simplicity. Its chief distinction lies in the
rustication of the casings, jambs and soffit, simulating stonework, and
the heavy fanlight sash with its openings combining the keystone and
arch in outline. The doorway of the east front, which is the entrance
from the drive, is Doric and has the customary triglyphs, mutules and
guttae. There is the same rustication of casings and jambs up to the
height of the doors, but molded spandrils occupy the spaces each side of
the round arch with its wide ornate keystone. Exceptionally broad
tapering and fluted mullions lend distinction to the heavy fanlight
sash with its round-ended openings. Neither of these doorways has the
double projection of those previously described. The background
pilasters are omitted, and the engaged columns stand directly against
the stone masonry. A beautiful Palladian window in the second-story wall
above each doorway forms a closely related feature, the two being
virtually parts of the same effect.
Oftener, where an entablature supported by engaged columns was
surmounted by a pediment, the fanlight over the door was omitted. Of the
several instances in Philadelphia, the best known is undoubtedly the
classic doorway of Cliveden, about which the Battle of Germantown raged
most fiercely. The damage done by cannon balls to the stone steps may
still be plainly seen. This doorway is one of the finest specimens of
pure mutulary Doric in America, very stately and somewhat severe. Every
detail is well-nigh perfect, and the proportions could hardly be better.
A similar arrangement of the high, narrow, four-panel double doors is
found elsewhere in Philadelphia, while the blinds used instead of screen
doors recall those of Doctor Denton's house, although divided by two
rails respectively toward the top and bottom into three sections, the
middle section being the largest. Two small drop handles with pendant
rings comprise the entire visible complement of hardware on the doors.
As compared with the east entrance of Mount Pleasant, the Cliveden
detail is richer in the paneled soffits of the corona and the paneled
metopes in alternation with the triglyphs of the frieze. One notices
also that it is not deeply recessed according to the prevailing custom
in the case of stone houses.
Another doorway of this general character and having double doors is the
entrance to Solitude. Conventionally Ionic in detail, with smooth
columns and voluted capitals, it pleases the eye but lacks the
impressiveness of the doorway at Cliveden. The three-panel double doors
are narrower, and this fact is emphasized by the deep recess with
paneled jambs. There is but one broad step, which also serves as the
threshold.
The doorway of the Perot-Morris house, deeply recessed because of the
thick stone walls, presents at its best another variation of this
sturdiest of Philadelphia types with a single, eight-panel, dark-painted
door and a very broad top stone step before it. Virtually a pure Tuscan
adaptation, it differs in a few particulars from others of similar
character, notably in the pronounced tapering of the columns toward the
top and the recessing of the entablature above the door to form pilaster
projections above the columns. In other words, the recessed entablature
of this doorhead replaces the fanlight of another type already referred
to and of which the doorways at Number 5200 Germantown Avenue and
Number 4927 Frankford Avenue are examples. The brass knob, the heavy
iron latch and fastenings inside are the ones Washington, Jefferson,
Hamilton, Knox and Randolph handled in passing in and out during
Washington's occupancy.
[Illustration: PLATE LII.--Chancel Window, Christ Church; Palladian
Window and Doorway, Independence Hall.]
[Illustration: PLATE LIII.--Palladian Window, The Woodlands.]
Above the pediment is to be plainly seen the picturesque, cast-iron,
hand-in-hand fire mark about a foot high, consisting of four clasped
hands crossed in the unbreakable grasp of "My Lady Goes to London" of
childhood days. This ancient design, to be seen on the Morris, Betsy
Ross and numerous other houses, was that of the oldest fire insurance
company in the United States, organized in 1752 under Franklin's
leadership. This and other designs, such as the green tree, eagle, hand
fire engine and hose and hydrant still remain on many old Philadelphia
buildings, indicating in earlier years which company held the policy.
For a long time it was the custom to place these emblems on all insured
houses, the principal reason for doing so being that certain volunteer
fire companies were financed or assisted by certain insurance companies
and consequently made special efforts to save burning houses insured by
the company concerned.
Porches were the exception rather than the rule in the early
architecture of Philadelphia. Only a few old Colonial houses now
remaining have them, and for the most part they are entrances to
countryseats in the present suburbs rather than to residences in the
city proper. The Highlands and Hope Lodge have such porches to which
reference has already been made in connection with the houses
themselves. Of scant architectural merit, the porch at Hope Lodge may
possibly be of more recent origin than the house. Except for the narrow
double doors the entrance to The Highlands is strongly reminiscent of
New England doorways and porches. Both have hipped roofs so low as to be
almost flat.
A splendid example of the gable roof or pedimental porch more typical of
Philadelphia architecture is that at Upsala. Although displaying free
use of the orders, it is regarded as one of the best in America. On a
square stone platform reached by three broad stone steps, slender,
fluted Doric columns, with engaged columns each side of the doorway,
support a roof in the form of a pediment of generally Ionic character,
the architrave and cornice being notable for fine-scale hand tooling. It
will be noticed that the motive of the cornice with its jig-sawed
modillions, rope molding and enriched dentil course suggests Ionic
influence; that of the architrave, with its groups of five vertical
flutings in alternation with an incised conventionalized flower, Doric.
The same entablature is carried about the inside of the roof, projecting
over the doorway to form a much favored Philadelphia doorhead supported
by flanking engaged columns. The doorway itself is distinctly of
Philadelphia type, high, relatively narrow, and deeply recessed, with
the soffit of the arch and the cheeks of the jambs beautifully paneled
and a handsome semicircular fanlight above the single eight-panel door
but with no side lights. The effect of the keystone and imposts, also
the enrichment of the semicircular architrave casings are
characteristic. The paneling of the door consists of pairs of small and
large panels in alternation, the upper pair of large panels being
noticeably higher than the lower pair.
Of far more modest character is the porch of the old Henry house, Number
4908 Germantown Avenue, long occupied by Doctor W. S. Ambler. It is much
smaller, extremely simple in its detail and of generally less pleasing
proportions. Two slender, smooth columns and corresponding pilasters on
the wall of the house support a pediment rather too flat for good
appearance. Except for the Ionic capitals, the detail is rather
nondescript as to its order. The round-arched, deeply recessed doorway
has the usual paneled jambs and soffit, but the reeded casings and
square impost blocks are of the sort that came into vogue about the
beginning of the nineteenth century. The single door with its eight
molded and raised panels is of that type, having three pairs of small
panels of uniform size above a single pair of high panels, the lock rail
being more than double the width of the rails above and wider than the
bottom rail. Unlike the usual fanlight, this one is patterned after a
much used Palladian window with sash bar divisions suggested by Gothic
tracery.
At Number 39 Fisher's Lane, Wayne Junction, in connection with a doorway
much like the above, is an elliptical porch much like those of Salem,
Massachusetts, although devoid of their excellent proportion and nicety
of detail. Both the porch platform and steps are of wood, but the
slender, smooth columns supporting the roof, which takes the form of an
entablature, stand on high stone bases. Only simple moldings have been
employed, and the detail can hardly be said to belong to any particular
order of architecture. The door itself is unusual in having molded flat
rather than raised panels, while the fanlight is of more conventional
pattern than that of the Henry house.
Side lights and elliptical fanlights, so characteristic of New England
doorways, are as rare as porches in the Colonial architecture of
Philadelphia. The entrance of The Highlands is thus unique in combining
the three. The doorway at Number 224 South Eighth Street has the New
England spirit in its breadth and general proportion; in the beauty of
its leaded side lights and fanlight, but the broad stone steps on the
sidewalk and the iron rails are typically Philadelphian. So, too, is the
paneling of the wide single door. The ornate woodwork of the frame
and casings, however, especially the frieze across the lintel, with its
oval and elliptical fluted designs elaborately hand-tooled, suggests the
Dutch influence of New York and New Jersey. The iron rails of the steps
present an interesting instance of the adaptation of Gothic tracery,
arches and quatrefoils.
[Illustration: PLATE LIV.--Great Hall and Staircase, Stenton.]
[Illustration: PLATE LV.--Hall and Staircase, Whitby Hall; Detail of
Staircase, Whitby Hall.]
The front doorway at Stenton may be regarded as the earliest instance of
side lights in Philadelphia, and one of the earliest in America. The
width of the brick piers or munions is such, however, that there are
virtually two high narrow windows rather than side lights in the
commonly accepted sense of the term. Indeed, they are treated as such,
being divided into upper and lower sashes like those of the other
windows, only narrower. Neither door nor windows have casings, the
molded frames being let into the reveals of the brickwork and the
openings, as in most early Colonial structures, having relieving arches
with brick cores. A six-paned, horizontal toplight above the doors
corresponds in scale with the windows. This simple entrance, with its
high, narrow, four-panel doors having neither knob or latch, is reached
from a brick-paved walk about the house by three semicircular stone
steps, such as were common in England at the time, the various nicely
hewn pieces being fastened securely together with iron bands. Severity
is written in every line, yet there is a picturesque charm about this
quaint doorway that attracts all who see it. In this the warmth and
texture of the brickwork play a large part, but much is also due to the
flanking slender trellises supporting vines which have spread over the
brickwork above in the most fascinating manner.
Toward the beginning of the nineteenth century and for a few decades
thereafter, under the influence of the Greek revival, a new type of
round-arched doorway was developed in Philadelphia,--broader, simpler,
heavier in treatment than most of the foregoing. There were no
ornamental casings, the only woodwork being the heavy frame let into the
reveals of the brick wall. Above a horizontal lintel treated after the
manner of an architrave the semicircular fanlight was set in highly
ornamental lead lines forming a decorative geometrical pattern. Double
doors were the rule, most of them four-panel with a small and large
panel in alternation like many earlier doors, but the panels were molded
and sunken rather than raised. In a few instances there was a single
vertical panel to each door, sometimes round-topped as on the doors of
the Randolph house, Number 321 South Fourth Street.
The most distinctive of these doorways is that at the southeast corner
of Eighth and Spruce streets, where elliptical winding flights lead to a
landing before the door. The ironwork is undoubtedly among the most
graceful and best preserved in the city. This low, broad entrance
resembles Southern doorways rather than the Philadelphia type, although
there are a few others of similar character near by. The wide, flat
casings and single-panel doors seem severe indeed by comparison with
most of the earlier doorways with their greater flexibility of line.
Generally similar, the doorway of the old Shippen mansion, Number 1109
Walnut Street, with its straight flight of stone steps unadorned in any
way, is less attractive except in the paneling of the doors. It lacks
the grace of the winding stairs and the charm of the iron balustrade so
much admired in the former. The fanlight pattern, good as it is, fails
to make as strong an appeal as that of the other doorway.
At the northeast corner of Third and Pine streets is to be found a very
narrow doorway of this character, its double doors paneled like those of
the Shippen mansion and its graceful fanlight pattern more like that of
the doorway at Eighth and Spruce streets, though differing considerably
in detail. Like many others in Philadelphia this doorway is reached by
four stone steps leading to a square stone platform, the entire
construction being on the brick-paved sidewalk. The simple, slender rail
of wrought iron, its chief decoration a repeated spiral, is the best
feature.
Philadelphia, perhaps more than any other American city, is famous for
the profusion and beauty of its ironwork, wrought and cast. For the
most part it took the form of stair rails or balustrades, fences and
foot scrapers, and many are the doorways of little or no architectural
merit which are rendered beautiful by the accompanying ironwork. On the
other hand, accompanying illustrations already discussed show the rare
beauty of architecturally notable doorways enriched by the addition of
good ironwork.
Fences were the exception rather than the rule in Colonial times,
although rarely employed along the front of a house to prevent passers
from accidentally stepping into areaways in the sidewalk in front of
basement windows. The danger of such a catastrophe was remote, however,
for Philadelphia sidewalks were very broad in order to make room for the
customary stoop before the doorway and the frequent rolling way or
basement entrance. These sidewalk obstructions being the rule, people
formed the habit of walking near the curb, and accidents were thus
avoided. It was not until late in the nineteenth century, when basement
entrances with an open stairway along the front of the house began to be
provided, that fences came into vogue, except in the suburbs, where a
small front yard was sometimes surrounded by an iron fence.
[Illustration: PLATE LVI.--Hall and Staircase, Mount Pleasant; Second
Floor Hall Archway and Palladian Window, Mount Pleasant.]
[Illustration: PLATE LVII.--Hall and Staircase, Cliveden; Staircase
Detail, Cliveden.]
Stoops divide themselves into four principal classes, of which the
first, consisting only of a single broad stone step before the doorway,
perhaps hardly warrants the term. As at Grumblethorpe and the Morris
house, these broad stone steps often had no ironwork other than a foot
scraper set in one end or in the sidewalk near by. Again, as at the
entrance to the Wistar house, there were iron handrails or balustrades
at both sides. Less common, though by no means infrequent, were the
stoops of this sort with a single handrail at one side.
These handrails or balustrades, replacing the stone parapets so common
in other American cities, are patterned after the cathedral grilles and
screens of the Middle Ages and consist of both Gothic and Classic detail
utilized with ingenuity and good taste. Most of the earlier designs are
hand wrought. Later, cast iron came into use, and much of the most
interesting ironwork combines the two. The balustrade at the Wistar
house just referred to is a typical example of excellent cast-iron work,
the design consisting of a diaper pattern of Gothic tracery with
harmonious decorative bands above and below.
The Germantown farmhouse presents another variant of this first and
simplest type of stoop with a hooded penthouse roof above and quaint
side seats flanking the doorway. As at the Johnson house, the broad
stone step was sometimes flush with the sidewalk pavement.
The second type of stoop consists of a broad stone step or platform
before the door with a straight flight of stone steps leading up to it.
Cliveden, Mount Pleasant and Doctor Denton's house are notable
instances of such stoops without handrails of any sort. The Powel house
stoop of this type has one of the simplest wrought-iron rails in the
city, while that of the house at Number 224 South Eighth Street, with
its effective Gothic detail, combines wrought and cast iron. Two very
effective wrought-iron handrails for stoops of this type, depending
almost entirely upon scroll work at the top and bottom for their
elaboration, are to be seen at Number 130 Race Street and Number 216
South Ninth Street, the handsome scroll pattern of the latter being the
same as at the southeast corner of Seventh and Spruce streets, already
referred to, and the former being given a distinctive touch by two large
balls used as newels. Sometimes, as at Number 701 South Seventh Street,
there was only one step between the platform of the stoop and the
sidewalk, when its appearance was essentially the same as a stoop of the
first type such as that of the Wistar house.
The third type of stoop has the same broad platform before the door, but
the flight of steps is along the front of the house at one side rather
than directly in front. While these were oftener straight, as in the
case of the doorway at the northeast corner of Third and Pine streets,
already referred to, they were frequently curved, as at Number 316 South
Third Street. Both have a wrought-iron rail with the same scroll
pattern of effective simplicity, a pattern much favored in modern
adaptation. Another stoop of this type at Number 272 South American
Street is high enough to permit a basement entrance beneath the
platform. The ironwork is beautifully hand-wrought in the Florentine
manner, its elaborate scroll pattern beneath an evolute spiral band
combining round ball spindles with flat bent fillets, and the curved
newel treatment at each side adding materially to the grace of the
whole.
The fourth type of stoop has double or wing flights each side of the
platform before the door. The doorway at Number 301 South Seventh
Street, already referred to, is the most notable instance of straight
flights in Philadelphia, while that at the southeast corner of Eighth
and Spruce streets occupies the same position in respect to curved
flights. The wrought ironwork of the latter is superb. Rich in effect,
yet essentially simple in design, it has grace in every line, is not too
ornate and displays splendid workmanship. Again a spiral design is
conspicuous in the stair balustrades, and the curved newel treatment
recalls that of the foregoing stoop. The balustrade of the platform
consists of a simple diaper pattern of intersecting arcs with the
familiar evolute band above and below. The wing flight was a convenient
arrangement for double houses, as instanced by the old Billmeyer house
in Germantown, with its exceedingly plain iron handrail and straight
spindles. Of more interest is the balustrade at Number 207 La Grange
Alley with its evolute spiral band and slender ball spindles beneath.
During the nineteenth century more attention was given to newels in
ironwork, and elaborate square posts combining cast and wrought pieces
were constructed, such as that at Fourth and Liberty streets. In the
accompanying balustrade are to be seen motives much employed in the
other examples here illustrated. Scroll work is conspicuous, as are
rosettes, but a touch of individuality is given by a Grecian band
instead of the more common evolute spiral above the diaper pattern. The
pineapple, emblem of hospitality, was attractive in cast iron and as
utilized at Number 1107 Walnut Street provided a distinctive newel.
[Illustration: PLATE LVIII.--Detail of Staircase Balustrade and Newel,
Upsala; Staircase Balustrade, Roxborough.]
[Illustration: PLATE LIX.--Staircase Detail, Upsala; Staircase
Balustrade, Gowen House, Mount Airy.]
The roads on the outskirts of all Colonial cities were very bad, and
many of the less important streets of Philadelphia had neither pavements
nor sidewalks. After rains shoes were bemired in walking, and as rubbers
were then unknown it was necessary to remove the mud from the shoes
before entering a house. Foot scrapers on the doorstep or at the foot of
the front steps were a necessity and became ornamental adjuncts of the
doorways of early Colonial homes. For the most part of wrought iron,
some of the later ones were cast in molds, that at Wyck being a
particularly interesting example. It consists of two grotesque
griffins back to back, their wings joined tip to tip forming the scraper
edge, and the whole being mounted in a large tray with turned-up edges.
This scraper can thus be moved about as desired, and the tray catches
the scrapings, which can be emptied occasionally without sweeping the
entire doorstep.
Some of the earlier and simpler scrapers, such as that at Third and
Spruce streets, consisted merely of two upright standards with a
sharp-edged horizontal bar between them to provide the scraper proper.
This horizontal part was made quite broad to take care of anticipated
wear, which in this particular instance has been great during the
intervening years.
Similar to this, except for the well-wrought tops of the standards and
the curved supplementary supports, is the scraper of the Dirck Keyser
doorway, Number 6205 Germantown Avenue, Germantown. Regarded as a whole
this design suggests nothing so much as the back and arms of an early
English armchair.
On the same page with these is shown another strange Philadelphia
scraper. Apart from its outline it has no decoration, and what the
origin of the design may be it is difficult to determine. To a degree,
however, it resembles two crude, ancient battle-axes, the handles
forming the scraper bar.
A favorite design consisted of a sort of inverted oxbow with the curved
part at the top and the scraper bar taking some ornamental pattern
across the bottom from side to side. At the top, both outside and inside
the bow, and sometimes down the sides, spiral ornaments were applied in
the Florentine manner. Accompanying illustrations show two scrapers of
this type at Number 320 South Third Street and another one elsewhere on
the same street. The use of a little urn-shaped ornament at the top of
the latter scraper is most effective.
At Number 239 Pine Street is seen a scraper employing two large spirals
themselves as supports for the scraper bar. The turn of the spiral is
here outward as contrasted with the inward turn of the scrapers at
Upsala.
A scraper of quaint simplicity standing on one central standard at
Vernon, Germantown, suggests the heart as its motive, although having
outward as well as inward curling spirals at the top.
Another clever device of Philadelphia ironworkers was to make the foot
scraper a part of the iron stair rail. Usually in such a scheme it was
also made part of the newel treatment on the lower step of the stoop,
but at Seventh and Locust streets, for example, it stands on the second
step beside and above the ornate round newel with its surmounting
pineapple. Here, as in the case of the simpler handrail in South Seventh
Street, one of the iron spindles of the rail is split about a foot from
the bottom, and the two halves bent respectively to the right and left
until they meet the next spindle on each side, the scraper bar of
ornamental outline being fastened across from one to the other of these
spindles below. The principal charm of the South Seventh Street rail
lies in its extreme simplicity, the twisted section of the spindles near
the bottom being a clever expedient. The pleasing effect of the design
at Seventh and Locust streets is largely due to appropriate use of the
evolute spiral band. Only a little more ornate than the South Seventh
Street stair rail is that in South Fourth Street. A special spiral
design above the foot scraper, however, virtually becomes a newel in
this instance. The same is true of another much more elaborate stair
rail at Seventh and Locust streets with its attractive diaper pattern
between an upper and lower Grecian band, the whole grille being
supported by a graceful three-point bracket.