HISTORIC DOORWAYS OF OLD SALEM
CHAPTER I
CHARACTER IN DOORWAYS
Of all the external features of a dwelling, the doorway, with or without its porch, possesses most interest and character.
Architecturally speaking, it is usually the feature upon which the chief emphasis is placed; and thus it expresses not only the taste and personality of the architect, but to a certain extent also those of the occupant of the home to which it belongs.
For the doorway is more than a mere entrance and exit to a dwelling. It assumes a human aspect, as standing for personal and social elements, and as revealing something of personal and social ambitions and ideals. It ceases to be merely utilitarian, and becomes suggestive, with an atmosphere of romance and poetry, as being intimately connected with basic human experiences both of joy and sorrow; and associates with itself memories of historic personages who have passed through it, and of historic events which have taken place within the house itself.
If every man could choose his own doorway, what revelations there would be, not only of artistic taste or the lack of it, but of personal character, disposition, and temperament as well. Thus, one doorway would express caution, reserve, a nature prone to watchfulness and suspicion. It might bespeak a certain narrowness and penuriousness in its owner, a lack of sympathy with breadth and joyousness, a desire to remain as much as possible aloof from the great currents of human life. Another doorway, on the contrary, would inevitably reveal warmth of human feeling, a willingness to mingle with people, an eagerness for human companionship, a welcoming spirit which included not only the familiar guest, but the casual stranger who might seek admittance through its hospitable portal.
Still another doorway might betray, through its design and proportions, and the nature of its accessories and embellishments, the elements of vanity, pomposity, and self-conceit; another would show extravagance; another mere fussiness without due regard for system and order; while still another would impress the beholder with a sense of the dignity of mind, the seriousness of purpose, and the integrity of heart of the man who selected it as the architectural keynote of his home.
CHAPTER II
OLD SALEM AS A CENTER OF COLONIAL DOORWAYS