That Red Door Mystique

By Tom Poland

 

Driving down SC Highway 23 on a rainy Monday, all seemed washed out. Gray. A sullen sky. No splashes of color in the peach orchards even, but a late cold snap caused that. Just low, scudding clouds and rain. Then I saw them. Red doors. The rain could not dampen their glow.

I’ve always liked red doors. Got one myself. As gateways to our homes and therefore our lives, people paint doors various colors for various reasons. We’re all familiar with the haint blue doors of the Lowcountry, doors that are supposed to keep evil spirits out while neutralizing hexes.

When I ran across the old home with three red doors you see here I had to stop and photograph it. I shared the photo with others and soon learned that people hold different views on just what a red door means. Said one lady, “I heard that a red door means you’re open for business.” Said another, “It means your mortgage is paid off.” Said yet another, “Well, I have one and I can assure you none of that is true.”

 

 

 

I had heard that a red door meant the owner had wealth and yet another lady replied, “Well, if your mortgage is paid off, you might be wealthy.”

I never cared what the red symbolizes, but I’m curious. Just what’s behind that red door mystique? Let’s open it and see. A little digging revealed some answers. That a red door is a welcoming sign to tired travelers. So, I would expect to see a lot of red doors as hotels go. Maybe the Red Roof Inn would have been better named the Red Door Inn. I read, too, that in Ireland red doors ward off evil spirits. Haint red. How does that sound? A Biblical meaning comes into play as well. During Passover a red door (blood) meant the angel of death would pass over your door and spare the firstborn male.

During the Civil War safe homes in the Underground Railroad had red doors so slaves knew where safe havens existed. Other red door meanings involve good fortune. The Chinese paint doors red just before the Chinese New Year to invite good luck and happiness into their homes.

I like a red door, especially if it coordinates with the color of the house. I have a gray cypress house and the red front door “pops” as photographers and graphic designers are wont to say.

How about you? What color is your front door? Do you care if it “means” something? If you do, here’s a guide that may offer some insight. Maybe.

 

 

 

Blue, the most popular color according to so-called experts means that the homeowner views his or her home as a place of refuge, a refuge from a demanding world. (And don’t forget that haint blue thing.)

Green supposedly translates into a home where health, safety, tranquility, and harmony exist. Maybe hospitals need green doors.

A black door, of which I see few, projects strength, sophistication, power, and authority. In other words a big shot lives there.

Brown? Too often it looks like an old door in need of maintenance. Some find it natural, but it’s not for me. No imagination. That’s what a brown door says to me. Experts, however, say it conveys warmth, stability, and reliability, positive attributes all, with darker shades of brown indicating a desire for privacy, even isolation. Maybe so. Or just maybe the modest homeowner doesn’t like a splash of color.

As for the old home in the photo, it has three doors. Not sure what that says. Three apartments? Not likely. Whatever the reason, I find it interesting that the faded, old, yet handsome home has three red doors. Those of you who find that curious, check it out. It’s on Highway 23 down in Peach Country not far from Johnston, the self-proclaimed Peach Capital of the World. Just observe the No Trespassing sign. I took the photograph in a good rain and yet the doors stand out, albeit softened. Red doors do command the eye.

 

 

As for my red door? Well, my home had a red door when I bought it and I liked it. A few years back when I replaced it I painted the new door fire engine red and I did so for two reasons. I think of a front door as the face of a place, and a face should be pleasant, aglow. A red door fits that bill. The other reason? It reminds me of where I went to school, the University of Georgia, land of red and black, Lewis Grizzard, and autumn shouts of “How ’bout them Dawgs.”

That brings me full circle and makes me out a bit of a liar. I do care what a red door symbolizes and I suspect you do, too. After all, a door stands between the world and us, and it should be more than a lockable barrier hung on hinges. It should mean something.

 

Photos by Tom Poland.

Visit Tom Poland’s website at www.tompoland.net
Email Tom about most anything. [email protected]

 

Tom Poland is the author of twelve books and more than 1,000 magazine features. A Southern writer, his work has appeared in magazines throughout the South. The University of South Carolina Press released his book, Georgialina, A Southland As We Knew It, in November 2015 and his and Robert Clark’s Reflections Of South Carolina, Vol. II in 2014. The History Press of Charleston published Classic Carolina Road Trips From Columbia in 2014. He writes a weekly column for newspapers in Georgia and South Carolina about the South, its people, traditions, lifestyle, and changing culture and speaks often to groups across South Carolina and Georgia, “Georgialina.”