Interior doors

Interior doors were made from timber and were panelled. Typically, the mid-rail was fairly high on the door. Below the mid-rail there were two or three narrow panels, and above the mid-rail there was one or two smaller panels (one was more common).

For doors opening into hallways, the top panel was sometimes glazed. This let light into the hallway, which otherwise had no natural lighting.

Typically, there were no mouldings around the panels.

Doors were generally made from oregon pine, rimu or another timber, depending on region. 

Figure 1: Typical bungalow door panel configurations.

Figure 2: Bungalow architrave styles.

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Hardware

Window and door hardware including hinges, door knobs, casement stays, and fanlight or quadrant stays were generally brass or bronze-finish (‘antique copper’). In some architects’ designs, wooden handles or latches were used.

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Exterior doors

The front entry door usually matched the style of the interior doors but typically had leadlighting or opaque glass in place of the top panel.

The rear door tended to be a more utilitarian framed ledge door with TG&V sheathing. It was often partly glazed – known as ‘open-top framed ledge doors’ – with a high pane of clear or opaque glass.