Real Steel Custom Doors for Those Open to Modern Design

Sculptor and architectural designer Kenneth Hepburn envisioned a bold, dramatic door for the entryway of his modernist Venice home.

But after scouring dozens of window and door showrooms as well as the aisles of home-improvement centers, he came to the conclusion he'd never find a door "remotely interesting or modern."

The 44-year-old says that compared to the rest of home design over the last half-century, "I found the door industry particularly laggard in coming up with anything new."

So what does an artist do when he can't find a door? He makes his own, of course.

The door that Hepburn fashioned from stainless steel would in 2001 become the prototype for the Neoporte Modern Door.

With a showroom in Santa Monica, Neoporte is one of a handful of designer-door companies offering the discerning homeowner a made-to- order or custom, high-end door in a variety of sleek modernist styles, options and prices.

The doors start at just under $6,000, although the average customer ends up spending about $11,000.

"I paid something like that," says Judd Weiss, a 26-year-old commercial real-estate agent who outfitted his Bel-Air home with an asymmetrical double-"Sideshow" a couple years ago.

At the time, Weiss was in the process of revitalizing his then- derelict home, perched on a hillside with Getty Center and canyon views, into a thoroughly modern bachelor pad. And that's when he stumbled on Neoporte during a Web search for modern door handles.

While he did pick up some levers for the minimalist modern interior, he also walked away with the brushed-stainless steel door with a vertical glass-panel insert at the right of the main slab.

"It was an impulse buy," Weiss says. "I couldn't think of anything else that would be this perfect."

A door should reflect one's tastes as much as the architectural style of one's home. But John Schechter, president of the Next Door Co. in Florida, admits, "stainless-steel doors aren't for everybody." Schechter included.

"My wife and I just had our house redone," he says. "It's a traditional house, so we didn't use our product, even though we could have saved some money."

Contemporary as the Next Door Co.'s custom designs are, its commercial-quality stainless steel doors (starting at $3,000) have been creating dramatic entryways for homes since 1998.

The company works with its customers to create one-of-a-kind doors with the option of colored steel in nine different finishes with embossing and glass inserts.

And because stainless steel is durable, corrosion free and requires low maintenance, it's a nice alternative to wood, especially in extreme environments, experts say.

"You can have the sun and rain beat it all day and never have to refinish it because it's never going to warp, it's never going to crack," says Hepburn of his distinctive Neoporte doors, which enjoy a thumb's-up from the U.S. Green Building Council for their durable, recyclable material.

Like the Next Door Co.'s, Neoporte doors are made from commercial- quality stainless steel but come in 13 designs. Some are embossed, some feature glass inserts in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations.

Wanting to add some curbside pizzazz to her Sherman Oaks midcentury home, Susan Allen and her husband -- a writer and producer for film -- had a wood entrance door replaced with one from Neoporte featuring a vertical swath of embossed dots.

That Neoporte "Racerback" hangs on the existing green-painted wood fence and opens up to a Zen-like courtyard that surrounds the glass walls of her home in lush foliage and flowing water.

"People tend to think a modern door has to be surrounded by everything starkly modern," Allen says. "But it can lend itself to a natural landscape like we have here."

TruStile Doors has also seen plenty of its customers mixing up the palette of materials and elements in regard to its line of metal- clad doors. The company clads its custom or standard doors in one of a variety of metal finishes, from pewter to antique bronze and copper, for an additional $2,500.

"Just by specifying a different finish, you can change the look of the door," says Jason Mounts, TruStile's director of marketing. "So if you take a TruClad and put it in the same opening as you would a wood door, it's going to be pretty striking."

Hepburn knows this all too well.

Since sculpting and then installing his first Neoporte, he's been craving more drama at home.

"Because I didn't have the manufacturing resources available to me at the time, it's a little homespun compared to what our product is now," Hepburn says. "As a matter of fact, I'm looking to put a 'Fullback' on my house."

And what's to become of the prototype?

Hepburn says, "We'll inaugurate it into our little hall of fame here."

Sandra Barrera, (818) 713-3728

sandra.barrera@dailynews.com

Making a grand entrance

Transforming the look of your home's entryway from boring to breathtaking couldn't be simpler these days -- knock on steel.

A small group of companies have been carving a special niche for themselves in recent years with their signature collections of stylish, durable doors made of top-quality stainless steel or clad in a variety of metal finishes. These doors, both contemporary and modern, can pack a powerful punch whether your home is a Victorian or takes its cues from the atomic age. Here are just a few:

The Fullback by Neoporte Modern Door

Embossed in dots from top to bottom, front and back, the latest of Neoporte's stainless steel designs attracted lots of attention at the 19th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City last month. "The enthusiasm people have for the product was just fantastic," says Kenneth Hepburn, the company's founder who received 825 requests from architects, designers and other tradespeople for information about his product. The average company received 150.

Price: The door is one of 13 different designs and retails for $6,800 for a single and $12,250 for a double with your choice of handles. Stainless-steel security viewers, door bells and plate thresholds are extras.

To Buy: See the door at www.neoporte.com, or visit the Neoporte Modern Door showroom, 1550 18th St., Santa Monica; (310) 828-5340. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.

Custom door panels by TruStile Doors

Want to really make a statement? TruStile lets its customers personalize their doors in nearly any size and design imaginable thanks to its in-house engineering team. The CAD engineers take your drawing and turn it into a one-of-a-kind door produced exactly to your specifications. For an even bolder statement, TruStile can clad your mid-density fiberboard door in one of seven metal finishes.

Price: Doors start at $1,500, with extra metal finishes adding an additional $2,500.

To Buy: Visit www.trustile.com, or call (866) 442-5302 to locate a dealer near you.

Custom doors by the Next Door Co.

Style your own door using any combination of the Next Door Co.'s design elements, such as the textured look of random swirls seen on this door. It may look three-dimensional, but the stainless-steel surface is actually smooth to the touch, as are all of the abraded door patterns created through the company's special crafting technique.

Price: Doors start at $3,000.

To Buy: Visit www.nextdoorco.com, or call (888) 791-4450 to locate a dealer near you.

-- Sandra Barrera

(c) 2007 Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.