Look! Cool Midcentury Modern Door Handles

We were recently photographing a house tour when we noticed the keen door handles that were used throughout the beautiful Midcentury renovation. We had never seen door handles quite like the box shaped doorknobs shown above, alongside the various other shapes available from One Stop Modern, when we learned the owners actually sold and offered these imported door hardware...

These door hardware are not in the budget realm, but they're definitely unique and well crafted, perfect to match the 50-60's atomic age pad. Our favourite is the Mod Exterior Handleset that comes with a with Mortise lock, normally found in older buildings.

Comments (3)

Careful though... none of these turn like traditional door knobs (if they're really the European type). If you close the door and you don't have a key, you can't get in... even if the door's not locked.

Many an American tourist has been locked out of his hotel room thanks to these little guys!

posted by Stylebites on April 24th 2008 at 4:23pm
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yes they are all mortise and tenon locks!

posted by modmistress on April 24th 2008 at 7:29pm
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Even still, you cannot shut the door quietly without it either
a) having it's lock 'unlocked'
or
b) getting your keys out, and turning the key in the lock as you pull the door shut.

For me this is a daily hassle, esp. as I'm in and out of the house a lot. Locks like these are so common in Europe (I'm in Germany now), so I guess it doesn't bother Europeans, but it is a major pet peeve of mine! I probably complain to my husband about it at least once a week. (no chance of changing it, already checked with the landlord.)

These ones are especially pretty, I'll give them that. But be sure you're not one of those people who's going to be driven nuts with an extra step.

Also interesting: here in Germany our anti-theft insurance would go way up if we had a US-style lock.

posted by buzzybee on April 24th 2008 at 10:46pm
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