Funky Head Casing Mystery

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Matt J
Hopper I
Hopper I
Location: Maynard, Massachusetts
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:27 am

Funky Head Casing Mystery

Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:21 pm

Hello fellow students of carpentry,

For a long time I've been wondering about a common detail that I see in older houses near Boston, Massachusetts (USA). More often than not, if a house is 100+ years old and hasn't been extensively renovated, the door between the kitchen and dining room is installed so that there is a pronounced slope to the head casing (sloping down towards the center of the house). I used to think it could be the structure sagging or sloppy workmanship, but I've seen it over and over, in places where the rest of the door casings are plumb, level, and square, and there is no corresponding slope to the floor. Original casings are cut to match this angle with a tight fit, which takes more care to do than simply cutting them square. And door slabs have to be cut at an angle to fit. So, many carpenters over many years made an extra effort to install and trim these doors this way. What's up with that?

Does anyone know of a tradition, superstition, or anything that could explain this? I've seen it in the city and outer suburbs of Boston in houses built from ~1740 to ~1920 or so, but was it more widespread than that? Have any of you seen anything like this in your area? Has anyone come across any mention of it in literature?

The photos show a doorway I'm removing in a house built in 1880 in Maynard, MA where the door jambs were cut at unequal lengths to achieve the slope, and a 1920's house in Somerville, MA that's in pristine condition with some excellent workmanship on the trim. Notice the level head casings on the built-in cabinet and doorway on the right, and the sloped one on the left- the carpenter clearly did this on purpose.

Thanks for any light you can shed on this mystery, or sharing a mystery of your own!
-Matt
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Chris Hall
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Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
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Re: Funky Head Casing Mystery

Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:05 am

Matt,

thanks for posting the question - I'll look into that and see if I can dig something up. no ready answer comes to mind, but I've seen that before too.

~C

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