Pleasant Surprise Hiding in the Walls
December 12th, 2008
We are preparing to remodel the master suite and kitchen of a 108-year old home in the Central West End. During a pre-construction walk-thru, the owner made a comment that surely there was once pocket doors that closed off the front rooms from the entry hall.
Our estimator Tim (shown above) is a veteran carpenter who has worked on houses of all ages. He responded that people typically either remove the doors and stash them in a basement, attic or carriage house or they simply push the doors back into the wall and cover over them. Worst case scenario is the doors get pitched.
With that said, Tim pulled out a pry bar and popped off a piece of molding in the middle of the door frame and…
…sure enough, there was a pocket door! He had to jimmy and prod quite a bit, but was able to yank the door from its deep hiding place.
It appears that when the door came off the track, rather than repair it, they simply shoved the door out of sight and covered up the storage well. Because of this forethought from a previous owner, the door remains in excellent condition, hardware and all. Getting this beautiful pocket door back in working order has been added to the remodeling project, and it’s good to note when a pleasant surprise pops up!
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Tags: central west end remodel, historic renovation, master bedroom suite, pocket doors, restore pocket doors, st. louis city
January 5th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
My 47 year old house in Crestwood has 3 pocket doors. One is for the master bathroom and is useful to help warm it, and of course requires no clearance as would a hinged door. I find the other two (in kitchen/family room area) are handy to sequester the dog when I occasionally bring him inside. Other than that they don’t to seem to add significant value.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:44 am
[...] In December, we found the original pocket doors hidden in the walls. [...]