A door is a structure that is use for opening or closing off an entrance. It is typically make of wood, but other materials like PVC, aluminum, or glass can used as well. It is available in three major types of mechanism, namely hinged doors, rotating doors, and slide doors. Doors are also used to improve air circulation and even add light. Among all kinds of doors, the front door is particularly essential since it is what people first encounter when visiting a house or a building.

Nobody knows exactly when doors first came into use. However, the first recorded use of this structure was by the ancient Egyptians. The use of doors in ancient times was also record in the Bible. According to the book of 1 Kings, the entrance of King Solomon’s temple was adorn by a door make from carve olive wood and embellish by gold. In 2010, a team of archaeologists unearthed a 5,100 year old wooden door in Zurich, Switzerland.

In the past, front doors were typically make from wood. Today, however, they can made from a wide variety of materials. They used to elaborately decorated as well. During the Tudor and Jacobean era (1485-1625), the front entrance of most houses would feature a carved door head made of hard wood, brick, or stone. In the Baroque era (1625-1714), doors were usually flank between two Doric columns or pilasters.

During the Victorian era (1830-1901), doors were usually make from soft wood and paint to look like hard wood. They would adorned with clear or colored glass panels. This trend continued through the Edwardian era, from 1901 to 1920. While in the Victorian period they were mostly adorn with brass for decorative purposes, front doors of Edwardian houses were usually decorate with colorful Art Nouveau or Neo-Georgian glass.