Bespoke Door Sets
Period Doors
A period front door is read first as proportion and panel layout — and a Georgian door is not a Victorian one. Getting it right means matching the door to the age and architecture of the house, not fitting a standard to the opening.
The door belongs to the period
Panel configuration is the clearest period signal. A Georgian door typically carries six raised-and-fielded panels in tall, ordered proportions; a Victorian door commonly four panels, often with the two upper panels glazed; an Edwardian door tends towards fewer, broader panels and more glass. The stile and rail widths, the panel mouldings — ovolo, ogee, bead-and-butt — and the overall proportions are set by the period, and a door that mixes them reads as a reproduction. The starting point is always the age and architecture of the property.
Specification and detail
Period doors are made from stable, slow-grown softwood or a hardwood appropriate to the property, and finished to suit it. Glazing, where the door carries it, follows the period — etched, stained, or patterned glass on a Victorian door; clear or fanlight glazing on a Georgian one. Ironmongery is specified to the age: rim locks, period escutcheons, knockers, and letterplates that belong to the door rather than to a catalogue. On a listed building the door is specified to satisfy consent — matched to surviving examples, or drawn from the period and the elevation.
Period Doors start from £5,000 as a single element.
- Suits
- Georgian · Victorian · Edwardian period properties
- Period signal
- Panel count & proportion (6-panel Georgian · 4-panel Victorian)
- Mouldings
- Ovolo · ogee · bead-and-butt — to the period
- Glazing
- Clear / fanlight (Georgian) · etched / stained (Victorian)
- Ironmongery
- Rim locks, period knockers & letterplates, to the building
- From
- £5,000 (single element)
Common Questions
What makes a door period-correct?
The panel configuration, proportions, and mouldings matched to the age of the property — six-panel Georgian, four-panel Victorian, broader Edwardian — in the right timber and with period ironmongery, rather than a standard door fitted to the opening.
Can a period door be made for a listed building?
Yes. It is specified to satisfy listed building consent, matched to surviving examples on the property or drawn from its period and elevation, with glazing and ironmongery to suit.
What timber are period doors made from?
Stable, slow-grown softwood, or a hardwood appropriate to the property, selected for stability and for taking a traditional paint or finish.
Do period doors have to be painted?
Not necessarily. The finish follows the property and the period — painted on most Georgian and Victorian town doors, and sometimes a finished hardwood or oak where the building suits it.
Considering period doors for a period or rural property? The conversation starts here.
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