Steinmetz, Joseph Janney, 1905-1985. Portrait of Sarasota architect Ruth Richmond. 19–. Black & white photoprint, 10 x 8 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. , accessed 7 December 2015.
The journey of discovery continues: In the apartment he decorated for a client, Ben Sander used sparkly vintage Weiser acrylic doorknobs throughout. With just a wee bit of searching, I found they were designed by Ruth Richmond — a interior designer and general contractor whose company Richmond Homes built more than 12,000 homes in Sarasota and environs from the 1950s through the 1970s.
Above: Ruth Richmond-designed doorknobs, featured often in the homes she designed and decorated and apparently marketed by Weiser.
Another story about an impressive midcentury designing woman — and about a product that we must. start. hoarding. collecting. now.
The inside knob rotates and recesses to lock the outer knob. You’ll notice that the outer knob has a small hole drilled in the center of it. That’s how you unlock it in an emergency.
When we were planning the doorknob switch, I considered these knobs from Rejuvenation. They have the same feel, just without the golden nugget.
Where to find vintage Ruth Richmond for Weiser door knobs — both are ebay affiliate links:
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Karen says
OMG! I love these! I want these!
Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com says
My pal Patti’s house in Venice Florida has these doorknobs and I love them! I recognized immediately, and she confirmed their house there was designed by Ruth!
(Their house is for sale, so if you want to see some interior photos of one of Ruth’s houses, you can look for 724 Golf Drive Venice FL. While Patti isn’t really about the MCM like we are, she’s done an incredibly cheery and creative job there! )
Ree says
Mod Betty, I just checked out the pictures of your friend’s house in Venice. Very cute, and the kitchen cabinets are wonderful. I could not see the doorknobs in the pictures, but the house and the yard are wonderful.
oh Holland says
Glitter! We yearn for old school glitter, foil, nuggets and threads in our laminate countertops, flooring, boucle upholstery and even on some ceilings … and now, in doorknobs.
Continually surprised there are no modern copies, but in a way I’m glad, ’cause if I ever score some original bling for my house, it’ll be all the sweeter.
pam kueber says
Yup. Glitter. Sparkle. JOY.
tammyCA says
Swoon! Yes, please! Absolutely…glitter, sparkle = joy! I’ve never seen these beauties before. I do have a vintage hamper with lucite handles & sparkles embedded..but I need more..more sparklies in my life. Oh, and I recently bought at an estate sale a couple decks of cards in plastic cases with embedded glitter..little vintage treasures like this do lift one’s spirit.
ineffablespace says
Again, this is one of those situations where something high-style was available at what was probably a reasonable price–Weiser Lock is pretty basic stuff, at least now.
There are companies that make the art-glass equivalent of these knobs–at price points of $280 to $600 a set, at one company, so it’s not as accessible.
West Elm and IKEA have made some fairly high-style things very accessible, but that is a particular aesthetic that, for the most part, looks simple, and looks inexpensive. The acrylic knob is a more “sophisticated” thing.
pam kueber says
Ben: Can you tell us about the quality? I’m guessing: Great hand-feel. Golly, ineffable, for the prices these are listed on ebay, they are a steal compared to the new ones you referenced. Assuming you can get them into your doors…
ineffablespace says
The other issue is number of knob sets needed. A typical house has a lot more doors than you would think once you start adding them up, and if you want everything to match, you have a pretty impossible task.
On the other hand, I don’t know that most people are going to spend $7000 for a dozen knob sets made of art glass.
The other thing is that the acrylic and glitter is a little more modest along the lines of mid-century notions but the art glass is clearly a piece of jewelry that could outstrip the other period details like simple slab doors and sanitary moldings.
Ben says
The knobs are very solid. You can tell how well they’re put together from the video. The doors in the apartment had to be re drilled to accept the knobs and installation is a bit tricky, because you can’t easily get a screwdriver around the knob to screw them in.
One of the reasons we opted for these was price. There was a whole set on eBay that included enough knobs for the whole apartment with a few to spare and as you noted, the price was far below the cost of the new ones.
Several of the knobs had a few minor issues – some scuffing, and on the locking sets, the hole is apparently a weak spot and is inclined to chip. Luckily we had enough knobs to set aside the chipped ones.
Sam R says
Back in the day, Weiser made good quality door hardware. My house was built in 1954, and all of the door hardware is Weiser with similar push-and-turn-to-lock mechanisms, but a different style of knob. I’ve been slowly replacing the 61 year old originals (and a few that went missing with NOS as I’ve found them, but the originals still work and I’m keeping a box of them around as parts.
This particular design has been bringing high prices for decent used examples for some time – they pop up in my saved eBay search that looks for replacement knobs for my doors.
Mrs. Pinkerton says
This is hilarious! These are all over my house (built in 1975). When we bought the house and moved in (1998), I hated them, but my husband refused to replace them. The acrylic knobs still grace our doors, and I still hate them. Would LOVE to sell them.
Sam R says
Check out completed sales on eBay. You might find some more inspiration to change your knobs…