Stella sent us a good question: I live on the top floor of an old Edwardian building in San Francisco. At the top of the stairs there is a fairly large lever that goes into the wall and when you pull it, it's supposed to unlock/open the front door at the very bottom of the stairs. I can hear the mechanism working in the wall down by the front door...
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...but it's not actually doing anything.
Does anyone know what this is called or if I can have this fixed?
We can't wait to hear everyone's info on this one! Can anyone help Stella out?
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I lived in an apartment in the inner richmond with the exact same lever! I don't recall the name of it, nor do I know where to have one repaired, but watching it move on its own when someone opened the front door was like something out of a horror flick!
Even in the days before telephones and electronic security buzzers, people didn't necessarily wish to walk down flights of stairs to let guests, tradesmen, servants and deliverymen into their upper-floor apartments....
That's what your lever was used for, and it was likely disabled in favor of the current electronic security buzzer.
BTW - There's no way to fix the mechanism without tearing into the wall between the lever and the front door.
Found an excerpt from "Great Houses of Scotland". Towards the bottom of page 254. http://tiny.cc/kX10s
Maybe if you find an intellectually curious locksmith...
it's probably a very simply engineered lever. maybe one of the historic renovators would like to have a look.
Just to point out that the staircase from the top floor to the entry door in a flat in an old building in San Francisco can be very, very long -- I always thought those levers were to save a trip down the stairs to open the door.
Wow, I have never heard of these! So cool to learn something new like this. We have funny old speaking tubes in our New England two-family but they don't work any more. Too bad!
Oh yes, those levers are wonderful. I still remember my Aunt Eva's flat on Union near Powell. We rang the bell 3 times so she'd know it was us. This went on for generations, everyone still does the 3 ring thing, her son inherited her flat.
There have to be restorers around SF for the Victorians. I AM kind of puzzled however that yours it on the 3rd floor. That means you don't know who you're letting in on the first floor. Perhaps this is why the lever was disabled. Is there remmants of a tube there also?
Ahhh I love The City. What about those great bathrooms, tub and sink with toilet separate? And the wonderful hallways?
Linda in Santa Cruz (originally from North Beach, SF)
My parents' building in SF has working levers in each of the flats. Their tenants love using it to open the front door for guests.
I lived in a house that had a working lever! It was so cool! Unfortunately, at some point, all the houses also put locked gates in front of their vestibules, so you couldn't actually let anyone in with the lever, though it was fun to mess with guests.
this is Stella.
I'm hoping we can get this fixed, I just didn't want to call someone and say "hey, that lever thingy in the stairwell" but I hope it doesn't involve ripping open the wall! I can hear it working in the doorway, so I'm hoping it's fine.
About not knowing, I figure I can stick my head out the window and ask who it is, although maybe that's just as much effort as going downstairs to open it!
There is a speaking tube, but it's inoperable.
Thanks everyone!!
Are you living in my old apartment on Broderick St.? :-)
I have been told the levers don't work with deadbolts and is why most of them of been disabled.
I'm moving to the Castro, but these levers are everywhere!
I also think the lever was disabled because of a different lock or door. But I think it'd be nice to be able to be able to use the lock connected to the lever when we're inside, and still have a deadbolt that I can lock from the outside when I'm not in the building. Wishful thinking, maybe!