Oregon Caves Historic Structures Report

PART V
Interior Assessment and Recommendations (continued)

Interior Doors

The interior doors of the Chateau fall into roughly four categories: guest room and closet doors, fire doors, kitchen and coffee shop doors, and non-historic accordion-style doors.

The lobby office door and the opening between the coffee shop and dining room both have non-historic accordion doors. These doors run on tracks mounted to the timber frame above each opening, providing a measure of privacy for these service areas of the building. Both are in good working order, and are constructed with faux wood grain panels that do not match the historic character of the Chateau.

The kitchen and coffee shop doors are replacements of the originals. These four are hollow core modern doors. The doors between the kitchen and coffee shop are hinged to swing in both directions, and form a set of double doors. The doors between the kitchen and dining room are hung individually, each swinging in only one direction. Each is a one-way door, with the door into the kitchen on the west and the door into the dining room on the east. The historic doors functioned in the same manner, but were two panel doors matching the doors in the guest rooms.

Typical Chateau fire door.

The fire doors were added to the structure on the fourth and fifth floors. These steel doors are hung in walls added at the same time, as described in the Chronology of Alterations. These doors are in good working order, and are closed at all times. While they detract from the historic character of the Chateau, they are a life safety issue that was deemed necessary at the time of installation.

Typical guest room door.

Typical guest room door hardware.

There are two types of doors present in the guest rooms. Conventional hinged doors form the entrance to each room, and also lead into the majority of the bathrooms. These are two panel doors, stained a green color. The surrounding trim is comprised of simple boards, stained to match the doors. The door lock and handle hardware on the entrance doors to the guest rooms is not original on the vast majority of doors, as new locks have been installed as a security measure. Some doors retain their historic handles and plate, but the locks are all replacements. The historic hardware has been moved in all instances to accommodate the new locking mechanism.

The second type of guest room door is a pocket door, located between the rooms of all of the suites in the hotel. A limited number of bathroom doors are also pocket doors. These pocket doors are stained to match the other guest room doors, and are either two panel doors like the entry doors, or are solid single panel doors. All of these pocket doors are in good operating condition, with their original latch and track hardware intact.

The guest room doors are also affected by the lean of the building in the north wing. Doors on the fourth floor in rooms 102, 103, 104, and the linen closet on the south side of the hallway do not operate properly because of the lean in the walls, and two of these doors have been cut down to fit the irregular opening. The closet door in 104 and the door between 102 and 103 have been shaved down at the top and bottom to fit the door frame and retain some measure of operation. The closet door in room 102 will only open 1/2 way, jamming against the floor.

Recommendations for Treatment: Interior Doors

The four categories of interior doors present different preservation needs. The non-historic accordion-style doors should not receive any preservation treatment (except removal), and the historic guest rooms doors should receive the most attention. The recommendations are as follows:

• Remove the non-historic and non-compatible accordion style doors from the lobby area and the doorway between the coffee shop and dining room. If a door is absolutely necessary at these locations, a door matching the historic character of the Chateau should be designed and installed. The installation of doors in these locations should impact the historic fabric as little as possible, and their introduction should be easily reversible.

• The fire doors should be maintained as a life safety device. The paint color of the doors should be kept as close as possible to the color of the guest room doors so the presence of the steel doors is minimized.

• The guest room doors should not have any more holes drilled in them. Relocation of the door hardware has resulted in many new holes in each door, some of which are hidden by the door plate. If new locks are required, they should conform to the openings that currently exist in the doors.

• Doors that do not operate should not be shaved down to fit the opening or swing pattern. This treatment of the historic doors is completely irreversible. If the doors do not operate properly, temporary doors matching the historic doors in design and appearance should be substituted until the lean of the building is dealt with in some fashion. The historic doors that are removed should be stored in a secure location to be used as replacements for other historic doors that may be damaged beyond repair.

• All doorstops must be installed and functioning correctly. The doors are causing impact damage to the fiberboard wall finish, and incorrectly positioned or installed doorstops are also causing damage to the doors themselves. All doors should be inspected for stops attached to the base molding on the wall behind the door. These stops must stop the door short of impact with the wall, and should have a cushioned head to prevent damage to the door. Doorstops mounted on the hinges of the door are marring the finish of both the door and the trim, and are not historically appropriate for the Chateau.

orca/hsr/hsr5c.htm
Last Updated: 22-Sep-2001