Colonial style front doors for mid century houses — Five styles available today

For those of you with a mid century home, we’ve previously spotlighted two companies that sell mid century modern style exterior doors — Crestview’s wood doors and the new Therma-Tru fiberglass doors. But what if you have a Colonial style home — or as Pam likes to call it — Cool-onial? Reader Doug had this dilemma, and tipped us to Simpson Door, which offers five exterior door styles that might be more suitable a more traditional looking mid century ranch, Colonial or Cape Cod home. Simpson Door also has several options for historic Bungalows and Arts & Crafts style homes.

Wood doors made in the U.S.A.

We reached out to Simpson Door to learn more about this company, and very promptly received a helpful response from their marketing rep, Brandner Communications’  Troy Brown. Troy sent us all the great door style photos and this info about the 101-year-old company:

Simpson® Door Company’s “Made-in-the USA” Story:

Like the Douglas fir and Western hemlock trees that grow in abundance here, Simpson® Door Company’s roots run deep in the heart of Washington State forestland. For 100 years, Simpson has been creating American-made exterior, interior and custom wood doors at its manufacturing facility in McCleary, Washington.

Simpson’s story began in 1910 when savvy businessman and tireless innovator Henry McCleary had 40 acres of land cleared for his new door factory. The 900-foot-long facility was completed in 1912. As the largest door factory in the world at the time, McCleary Door Company began producing 138,000 units a month. In 1941, Simpson Lumber Company acquired the door plant and renamed it Simpson Door Company.

The creativity, engineering and innovation that began with Henry McCleary continue. Today, Simpson remains an industry-leading manufacturer of stile and rail wood doors. Simpson Door Company is one of the oldest continuously operating door plants in the nation, and is the city of McCleary’s main industry and largest employer. “We are grateful to call McCleary our home for the past century, “said Brad Loveless, Simpson Marketing and Product Development Manager. “The pride associated with each Simpson door is evident in the generations of families here that have dedicated their lives to building them. When purchasing a Simpson door, customers are not only getting a beautiful, handcrafted showpiece for their home, they are getting a part of our home and history as well.”

Simpson’s extensive product line is available through dealers across the U.S. and Canada, and includes hundreds of standard door designs from panel to French to decorative entry doors with matching sidelights and transoms. Simpson doors can be made in a variety of wood species, sizes and glass options, whether a standard door design or a one-of-a-kind custom door. But what separates a Simpson door from other wood doors in the market, is mostly in what you don’t see: Innovative construction techniques and the highest quality materials for internal components, result in a longer lasting door backed by extended warranties.

Industry research continually shows Simpson as number one in brand recognition in the wood door category. Product development and innovation continue to expand Simpson’s offerings with recent additions including its Nantucket® Collection and Performance Series® – exterior wood doors for tough exposures – as well as a number of new contemporary door designs for today’s homes. To make it easier for customers to choose the door that best suits their tastes, Simpson has added a variety of online design tools – “Glass Taste Test,” “Test Drive a Door” and an interactive wood species selector.

Simpson’s strong roots, century of experience and expertise provide customers with confidence that their “Made in the U.S.A.” Simpson doors will make a great first and last impression of their home.

When it comes to choosing the right style of door for your home, Simpson has a helpful design tool to allow homeowners to test drive their new front door by uploading a photo of the front of their home and virtually install doors they are considering — similar to Crestview Doors Door-o-Vision. Simpson Doors also offers a Glass Taste Test — similar to the door test drive — which allows customers to see how various glass options will look on different door styles.

Troy also sent some pricing info for four of the door styles that would work on a mid century colonial style ranch:

Following is the general price range for each door. The specific price will depend on the wood species, glass choice and local market factors.
2035 – Traditional Sash $450 – $500
2039 – Traditional Sash $475 – $525
2182 – Traditional Sash $500 – $550
2184 – Traditional Sash $450 – $500

We think that doors like this — early American-inspired — were likely even more common than mid century modern style doors. It’s nice to know they are still available.