Palladio Tre Solid - White Gold Patina - Swing

This classically designed interior door is part of the Palladio interior door collection, which means it is made of natural solid wood (not to be confused with solid core). The raised moldings is reminiscent of the Neoclassical period in architecture, when construction of attractive residential buildings were all the rage, completely changing the face of numerous major cities around the globe.

The beautiful two-panel arrangement is in keeping with Andrea Palladio’s principles of emphasizing the harmony of the decor through the simple elegance of its repeating elements – such as interior doors. It is a reminder that utility does not have to come at the expense of beauty.

This entire line of traditional style interior doors comes with all the usual wonderful features available here at Almes, such as the state-of-the-art hardware, including the Italian-made 3D-adjustable self-lubricating concealed hinges that make the installation a walk in the park and ensure long-term comfortable operation (this door will never creak), as well as the soundless magnetic lock – and, I hasten to add, the automatic sweep that is activated whenever the door is closed which, apart from the sense of privacy it provides, is part of the system that gives this interior door sound-proofing and thermal insulation qualities that are well above industry standards.

A number of finishes is available for this interior door (you’re hereby encouraged to explore every option). In addition to all standard configurations and sizes, custom orders are happily accepted.

Some historians claim, with good reason, that Palladian architecture appeared as a reaction to the proliferation of Renaissance themes everywhere, and while it was generally agreed that the tend was a huge improvement on formerly ubiquitous Gothic architecture, some purists longed for at least a partial return to truly classical, i.e. Greek and Roman, forms. Andrea Palladio was only too happy to oblige and designed villa after villa for the folks who could afford his services. Most of his works are concentrated in the Veneto region, whose prosperity in those days rivaled that of Florence.

Some other historians theorize that he was the precursor of Neoclassicism, which is not entirely accurate. The world had to wait two full centuries before neoclassical buildings started to spring up in France and Italy, and another two decades before they became a world-wide trend. It was only during the Industrial Revolution, when the middle class finally came into its own and turned into a force to be reckoned with that Palladio’s followers began to have a serious cultural influence, shouldering the aristocracy aside. One of the staunch proponents of the new architectural trend was, ironically, the third President of the United States, who, during his extensive travels in Europe, became a Palladian – so to speak. As luck would have it, he was also a capable and gifted architect who turned his own ideas into actual construction projects. Not too many leaders in history actually created any architecture themselves. Apart from this fellow, Emperor Hadrian comes naturally to mind, and … well, that’s it, really.

In light of the above, this line of interior doors is also a reaction to a number of today’s trends; a return to the basic classical themes that have made so many comebacks over the centuries they truly deserved to be called timeless.

Like everything else, interior doors can be new, old, and old-fashioned. The latter is also known as retro – sometimes, which is, when all is said and done, a euphemistic substitute for outdated. This is something to be avoided in interior door manufacturing.

There is an enormous difference between old-fashioned and old things. The latter go by a number of pleasant-sounding, enticing terms such as antique, traditional, classic, time-tested, timeless, and so forth. Things that stand the test of time – fashions, architecture, interior doors, statues, paintings, etc., can only gain in value as the years go by. Some of them become priceless; others – as in the case of certain buildings – become designated historic landmarks, a form of protection the architectural committee extends over them against developers’ plans, which is a wonderful endeavor whose purpose is not just to preserve the history of a city, but also to make sure that beautiful things do not get destroyed in a building boom du jour.

The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the progressive social reform movement in North America under the leadership of the upper- middle class concerned with poor living conditions in all major cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Washington, D.C., promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations. Advocates of the philosophy believed that such beautification could promote a harmonious social order that would increase the quality of life. They were quite right.

Instant landmarks suddenly arouse everywhere. The style employed by the movement was a combination of Beaux-Arts and neoclassical (both owing much to the works of Andrea Palladio). In New York, the grand arch and colonnade on the Chinatown side of the Manhattan Bridge were added as part of that movement. It serves no practical purpose whatsoever: its function is to please the eye, no more and no less.

… Now, patina, a thin layer that forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze, certain stones, and wooden furniture, including certain types of interior doors (the sheen produced by age, wear, and polishing) can be, and oftentimes is, viewed as Father Time’s stamp of approval. There are two types: acquired, i.e. forming naturally through oxidation or other chemical processes) and applied, i.e. added deliberately by the craftsman with an eye to imparting to his creation that magnificent timeless look – as is the case with this entire interior door collection. Once the traditional finish has been applied (white, in this case), our specialist comes over with a bunch of brushes and adds the gold patina to the moldings, using traditional painting methods, including glazing (adding transparent layers on top of each other). Because the Palladio interior door series is a classically designed one, the creators felt they might as well emphasize its timelessness using this method.