hidden pocket doors from a 19th century house on ohio street removed prior to demolition

with a little over a week to do some exploratory surgery in a three-story house, built between 1881-1886 on the near west side of chicago, we had ample time to carefully examine any and all extant architectural artifacts original to the house.

remarkably, the original carved wood header blocks, single-part molding, passage doors and even cast plaster ceiling rosettes were in place and in relatively good condition.

perhaps the greatest finds were the three sets of sliding doors, which had been sealed off in their pockets in the 1960's. after removing the panels of wood used to conceal them, we discovered the doors intact, with the original brass and bronze hardware and ornamental cast iron hangers, all intact. unfortunately, only one of the three pairs retained the original finish, consisting of a finely executed faux walnut wood grain over yellow pine. the two other sets had been painted - sometime in the 1940's - a two-tone color scheme, which effectively destroyed the faux grain finish used on those doors.

each door was adorned with remarkable oversized aesthetic movement escutcheons and mortise locks comprised of brass (the mortise lock faceplates are bronze). the hardware fabricator, known as the nashua lock company located in nashua, new hampshire, was identified by the intricate lightly incised design pattern, along with the embossed lettering found on the lock boxes. two sets of pocket door hardware had avoided paint, so the original baked black enameled inlay effectively made the design elements "pop." the remainder of the hardware had been painted brown or white, but was later stripped to reveal the detailing.

hidden high above the doors were the patented wilcox "hangers," consisting of cast iron brackets and spoked wheels or rollers that were designed to effortlessly move the pocket doors along a track. when we removed the doors from their pockets, we carefully took apart the hardware resting atop each door. the brackets were ornamented with scrollwork, which is quite pleasing, especially since they were never meant to be seen by the eye. the grooved edge wheels with elegant spokes, were equally impressive.

with only a few days remaining before the wrecking ball arrives, we will continue to remove the remainder of the millwork. this includes the solid walnut spiral wood staircase with not a touch of paint added since installation sometime between 1881-1886. after the artifacts are entirely removed, i will revisit the site to document the demolition, yet another death of a 19th century chicago three-flat. if the construction methodology and/or materials capture my attention, i will most certainly harvest samples and take notes to add to the ever expanding 'deconstructing chicago' database. as with most buildings documented thus far, i will pay careful attention to the beam or sill plate configuration, especially since it tends to differ tremendously with brick structures dating to this time period.