Day 31 - The World Within!

Many of your comments mentioned that you wondered what lies beyond some of the gates I've included in my gallery this month. What better way to end than finding one of these solid barrier gates open! As I mentioned previously, lots of homeowners here wall in their front yards for privacy. That seems to be the case here, though I did notice, when I walked by, that there was a little garden gnome flag inside this gate! A head-on shot showed only the gate and the front door beyond, but this angle caught the welcoming gnome!

Well, we've finally reached the end of the 30 + 1 Day Photo Frenzy! I hope you have enjoyed looking at my daily posts and gallery of doors and gates as much as I've enjoyed compiling it. When I started this project I had no idea what I'd include, other than a few specific gates I knew about from before the challenge. Venturing out with a specific goal of finding interesting, different and unique gates wasn't always easy, nor was it always easy or convenient to try to find gates when I was away, but I've included ones I've thought you'd enjoy. I did take pictures of more than one gate on some days, and have kept those in a separate folder of Doors and Gates that I've started, and which I hope to expand in the future. I guess it sometimes takes prodding and motivation that a challenge like this provides to embark on a photographic mission!

Thank you all so much for visiting my blog, and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate your comments, and want you to know that they kept me going on some days when I didn't really feel like continuing for one reason or another!

Day 30 - Frenzy in Wonderland

Well, this is definitely the most unique door (and house) that I've come upon during this January Photo Frenzy! I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland! The shape of the door, the wrought iron, the mosaic structure, and the house in general seem like out of a fantasy story!! Oh, and I LOVE those lamps surrounding the door! Believe me when I tell you there is nothing else like this in that neighborhood, at least that I could find!! It's actually newly constructed, and there is an architect/builder sign just out of the picture.

One thing really bothers me though...the stairs do not line up with the front door exactly. If I stood directly in front, the front stairs were slightly off from the raised curved area around the door, so I had to stand slightly to the side to get the whole door surround in the picture. Details, details. But, what a find!!

BONUS!
For those of you who, in your comments, have asked, here is a picture of the Wonderland house that I took a week or so ago, when I actually first stumbled upon (well, actually drove by) this house, and kept it in mind for a future day. Doesn't it really look like a fairy tale house?? Check out those windows, railings and the raised shape around the edges!! I think this house would make anyone driving by just smile, as they wonder what the inside would be like!

Day 29 - Asymmetric Entry with Wavy Glass

I found this entry to be very different from the others in my 31 day challenge in its asymmetry. The round column gives a contemporary look, yet the stacked stones soften the facade. The wavy glass on the door and sidelights further soften the look, and perhaps echo the waves of the ocean behind the house. The door appears to lead to the front yard, and the light area in the glass appears to be the sky in the open area between the entry door and the house within.

Day 28 - Wood and Stone

Whether it's the shape of the gate, or the combination of the rich and warm wood and stone colors, I found this entry to be very welcoming! I have no idea why there is a stone on the driveway; I didn't even notice it when I took the photo. But I loved the cutout of the key on the gate knobs!

Day 27 - To See Or Not To See

I almost drove by this one!! It wasn't until I'd almost passed it that I saw the interesting entry under that curved roof. I thought it was a stainless steel wall and doors reflecting what was in front, but on closer inspection, I now realize it is a grate design and what we're seeing is really the inner yard, since the sidewalk, close to the doors, is not reflected and we see a lawn and yard! I also didn't notice at the time, and I'm now wondering is how that overhead colored light looks at night! I might have to drive by there and check it out. But not tonight! It's my 30th anniversary, and here I am, uploading a picture! Call that dedication. Or.....?

Day 26 - Soft Contemporary

I was drawn to the strong angular lines of this entry gate. The warm woods, earth-tone stonework and softly tinted frosted glass warm up the contemporary design and angles and make this a welcoming entrance. I also liked how the timber covered path behind the doors lends a strong design element to this home.

Day 25 - Traditional Welcome

Mention has been made that all of my doors and/or gates have a similarity to them (excepting those I took while away on vacation). Well, that's true! All of the houses are located within about a 5 mile radius of my house. There is, of course some variation, but most of these houses are located in smaller communities or tracts that have design standards and the ever-present CC&R's (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) which set out what can and can't be done on your property. The CC&R's are designed to prevent "way-out" or otherwise non-conforming designs or finishes, supposedly to keep up property values. But they also create less individualized or colorful houses. So you end up with lots of earth tones or similarly muted colors in the exteriors, etc.

I will try to venture out to the area near my optometrist's office tomorrow, since I have to take my glasses back for some changes. I found and posted a pretty door there a week or so ago, and noticed some more individualized houses, since the area is older and not so strict in its architectural guidelines.

Meanwhile, today I drove through my old neighborhood (where we lived for 22 years before moving to our current house) looking for something different than in my current neighborhood. They're only 1 1/2 miles apart. I found this traditional door, part of a traditional Cape Cod style house, and I especially liked the barrel-vaulted ceiling over the entry way. I don't know if the beveled glass in the door panes shows through in the size I've uploaded, but the entrance as a whole just has a nice traditional, warm welcoming feel to it!

Day 24 - Zen Gate

I just loved the peaceful Zen look of this gate, with its yin-yang of solid and open portions in a clean-lined structure. The pines and all of the greenery inside the gate give this home a relaxed, meditative quality. I wonder if there is a water feature to complete the mental image!

Day 23 - Whimsy for a Sunny Day

The sun was out, the sky was clear, and look what I found for today's gate!! How fun! Whimsically shaped gate, freeform wrought iron. It just made me smile when I drove by! Isn't this fun? Don't you wish you knew who lived in a house with a gate like this? (So do I!) And yes, I think this one will be tough to beat!

Day 22 - Louver Doors in a Rainstorm

Alas, it rained (and hailed a bit) again today! Undeterred, I waited for a break, and headed out. But the intermittent rains had other plans for me. Just as soon as I started driving to the bank, it started pouring. But, armed with my point and shoot (no use getting the good stuff wet), I drove around a nearby neighborhood checking out doors. This entrance was interesting, as it had its own roofline and looked almost like a separate structure. I also liked the detail of the wooden louver doors. Notice the rain falling steadily as I took the pic from the comfort of the warm and dry inside of my car!

Day 21 - Arbored Gate

We're still having intermittent strong rain. This really has been a crazy week in Southern California. Another shot from my car, as I drove around looking for interesting gates and/or doors. I don't know why a large tree was planted almost directly in front of the gate, but it meant I couldn't get a head on shot. Also the angle was tough, so the arbor almost hides the arched entry portico behind. But it's different, and interesting in its own way!

Day 20 - I Can See (Not So) Clearly Now...

We had intermittent heavy rain today, so I couldn't go out walking. Instead I drove around, looking for some interesting gates close to home. Most of the wooden doors and gates I saw were dark from wetness. I was surprised to find this frosted glass entry gate showing the lighter courtyard behind. You can see the plants have really been pummeled by the rain. I'm sorry I didn't get a straight shot, but I was shooting from the driver's side, through the open passenger window, with my point and shoot!

Day 19 - WinterGate

What a difference a few hours makes. Dry sidewalk and clouds starting to appear as the picture was taken. Scene is fairly dry, wintry looking with bare vine stems, lots of browns and rusts. Several hours later there was strong wind, lightning, thunder, heavy downpours and small tornadoes within about 20 miles. And a heavier storm is expected for tomorrow and Thursday. I will have to go out early and see what I can find - though I'm guessing the landscapes will not look pristine due to leaves and branches being blown around today. As for the gate itself, I just loved all the wintry monochromatic browns, the swirly lines in the gate and how the rounded lines of the barren vines echo them.

Bonus!!

After uploading my images to my computer and going through them, I began to realize that I had unintenionally taken several pictures that sort of fit in with the themes of some of my fellow Frenzy'ers! So, to pay homage to their work, as a way of thanking them for helping me keep up my enthusiasm for this project, I created this collage. I'm sorry I couldn't find pics to match more of your themes!

Please click image to view in full, and read caption explaining the different images!

Day 18 - Reflecting Door

Today, I took a walk around the neighborhood where my friend's house is located. This house is situated below road level, maybe 30-40 feet from the street. What caught my eye, other than the strong lines and classic structure, was the reflection of the trees in the window above the door. Fortunately I was above that tree level, and not reflected in the window, too! I love the classic stone and brickwork, as well as the beautiful leaded glass in the door.

Day 17 - His and Hers Gates?

This was another "Wait! Back up!" moment. Despite my 31-Day Frenzy, my trip was not all about scoping out doors and gates. Yeah, hard to believe. So, as we drove to outlying areas, looking for open land, streams, and general countryside vistas, we almost missed this gate. Or gates. I almost did a double take after noticing the graceful curves of the "pedestrian" entrance gate next to the monogrammed double vehicle gates leading to the home in the rear. I don't really see the need for the pedestrian gate (since it was locked anyway), so my guess is that the owners (the "W" family) probably couldn't settle on a style of gate, and compromised by having two gates, two styles, one next to the other. Any other guesses why?

Day 16 - Pillared Door

We noticed this door as we drove down a street in Park City. Actually it was the pillars that drew my attention behind a deep "lawn" of snow! Backing up the car to take a picture, we then noticed the scene behind us reflected in the window panes surrounding the door! I guess the people who built this house couldn't decide on a style - shingle siding, stucco pillars and a rough-hewn rustic door. They covered all their bases.

Day 15 - Abandoned Compound

We got to Utah, and after settling in, we set out to take pictures! We drove around a lot in the four days, and I'm not really sure where the gate pictures I'm uploading were taken, other than within 50 miles of Park City! This particular gate served as the entry to some sort of small ranch. Considering the abandoned state of the property, the decorative scrolled metalwork on top of the gate seemed oddly out of place. The house is behind the gate, to the right. The greenish building directly behind the gate served some unknown function, but the elements have gotten the better of it. You can see what was part of a roofline, and that the side is falling away. As for the other buildings on the property, they are abandoned and are all either falling down, in major disrepair or boarded up. I found the different types of fencing material on either side of the gate interesting as well!

Day 14 - Mediterranean

For today's image, I had to look for a nice door/gate AND find one in a vertical orientation for my thumbnail gallery. Hmmmm, are we getting a little compulsive here? Our coastal area is comparable to a Mediterranean climate, and there are a lot of olive trees. We had a large one in front of our prior house. Today's house isn't particularly big, but it's thematic and carries out the look well in good proportion. Framed by Mediterranean plants and an olive tree, the ornate front door and facade just say "Wine Country!" Please click on the image to view in full, so you can see all the well-considered accessories in greater detail.

Note: I am leaving early tomorrow morning (while still dark, so no chance for a pic) to go to Utah for 4 days to try for some winter (snow) photography. Unfortunately, it doesn't look promising for me to be able to process and upload images I take, though I do have an idea up my sleeve to try to make it happen. If you don't see image changing for four days, rest assured I have not given up the Frenzy. I will post my daily photos when I get back.

Day 13 - Cool Contemporary

Well, it rained during the night and early this morning, so I had to wait for it to clear up a little. I was looking for something a bit different than the last few days, and found it - a contemporary. And, please notice the clearing clouds! (Yes, it does occasionally rain in Southern California!) I also scoped out some additional streets for future houses!

I liked the clean look of this contemporary entry area. While I usually go for a tighter crop, I have been including some plant material in each of my images, and to get these plants, I had to go wider! So, it's more of a 'real estate' view than solely a "gate" or "door" view. Oh, and on this one, I did actually take it from inside my car, out the driver's window!

Day 12 - Traditional Wrought Iron and Glass Arched Door

I took my camera with me today when I went to my optometrist's office to pick up my new glasses. Exploring a different neighborhood, I found this lovely door. I was in my car, slowly cruising up and down streets. It must have looked a little odd, but there were lots of people around so they probably thought I was just driving carefully. :) Anyway, I was glad to see this house on the correct side of the street to catch the sun, which better shows off the ironwork and glass. Like yesterday's house, there is a lot of symmetry to this entry, but unlike yesterday's, this house is more traditional in style.

Day 11 - Tuscan Farmhouse Door

Well, back to the 'hood. Not quite as much whimsy as out in the desert resort area, but I'll try to fan out a bit in the next couple of weeks to some local arty areas to see what I can find. In the meantime, here's a nice replica of a Tuscan farmhouse (as they like to call them here) door. Very solid!! I love the textures of the stone surrounding the wooden door.

Day 10 - Palm Leaf Gate

Quite a lot of interesting....read bizarre.... gates to be found out in the desert near Palm Springs. Here is one, where metalwork designed to look like palm or banana leaves has been welded over the regular wrought iron gate! I'm sorry about the security sign, but it was there and I don't feel like digitally removing it. It's been a busy weekend, and I'm just glad to be home and am adding to yesterday's blog entry with the bonus picture, doing this one, and trying to re-format the Worth picture page. Lots of work.

Day 9 - House of Birds

This is utter stupidity! After going out early this morning to get a picture, then going to play golf, returning to the borrowed condo, uploading my picture and post-processing today's image and then finding no Wi-fi connection, we headed off to find the nearest Starbuck's. Larry on his computer, me on mine. He couldn't manage to get Wi-fi, so this one will have to do for both of us. But....lo and behold, in my rush to get the picture done, I saved it back to my CF card....NOT THIS STUPID LAPTOP!! So here I am at Starbucks, 6 miles from the condo. I guess Larry will stay here and use up our paid 2 hours of time, and I will go back to the condo, and get my CF card and card reader. I hope to get it loaded tonight. I am nothing, if not tenacious.

Ok, that Starbuck's closed and closed their server. Had to go back to condo to get my CF card and reader. Found another Starbucks, about 5 miles away, who said they kept server on all night even after they closed, so here we are, in car, in parking lot, in front of a closed Starbucks in the desert! I couldn't manage to get the picture loaded on the thread, but here it is! Yay. I will add a bonus pic when I get home, of the side gate of this place.

This house is like a bird house. There were screaming birds (peacocks?) in the back yard. Huge lot. The front doors, and entire structure for that matter, were totally customized, but very interesting. The side gate is even weirder, but I didn't have time to get it ready for upload. Anyway, enough for now, as with my luck, the battery on this stupid laptop will probably die before I finish this.

Sunday - We are now home and I'm on my "regular" computer. What a difference. What a disaster yesterday was in terms of fixing up the pic and uploading! Anyway, I am now going to insert my Bonus picture from yesterday (Day 9) since I am writing this a day later. This gate, below, is the side gate (house is on a corner) of the Bird House, which is the main photo. Looks like Africa, or Polynesia. Certainly not like Palm Springs desert area! But it made for some great photos! Enjoy!

** A couple of comments. Someone mentioned the sky looked unrealistic in the main pic. That is because it is! This was an early morning shot, totally backlit, with the sun coming just over the palm tree behind the house. I did all I could to block the sun, and the front of the house, of course, was very dark, while the sky was washed out. I had to lighten up the front of the house so you all could see it, and did the best I could on my laptop! The side of the house, however, was in more of a direct sunlight, at least the part not in shadow, and was kind of pale, colorwise! I guess I can go back and darken and add some more saturation, but not now.

Day 8 - Monterey CIRCLE

Well, this is an early posting today. I had to get this picture posted before we leave for the weekend! True dedication. Or insanity.... What I liked about this house is that the address, on Monterey Circle, is right above the circular design on the door. I'm easily amused.

I will try to post pictures to the blog over the weekend. But I will definitely take pictures daily. If I can't get them posted while I'm away, I'll do so when I return on Sunday.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Day 7 - Curvilinear

When I came upon this door on an architecturally modern house, I was charmed by its curvilinear entrance. I love how the curves of steel on the door allude to the ocean, and how the ceiling and curved design in the door echo each other.

Wow! Seven days into the Challenge and I'm finding I really love going out and searching for more gates and doors! I hope I don't run out of fun finds!

I'm going away for the weekend, leaving tomorrow. I'll try to go out early and get a picture to post, and will try to take and post more pics of doors while I'm away, but I'm not promising!

Day 6 - Electric Gate

Electric gates guard the entrance to this home. Notice the blue sky. Usually our sky is not quite so blue. But the good thing is that it made for a phenomenal sunset. Bonus picture below is tonight's sunset! Magical!! The island is about 26 miles offshore. Some days, due to smog and haze we can't even see it. Winter is the best for clearer air and long distance views. Oh, and to answer Eury's post, all of the gates and doors are from different houses.


Bonus Picture - Tonight's Sunset!

Day 5 - You Rang?

When I walked past this house, what jumped out at me was this metal-grille-guarded peephole (as if someone couldn't just vault over the top of the gate?). It brought to mind Lurch ("You rang?"), from the Addams Family. Yeah, I know I'm dating myself, but I did with Fantasy Island, too. The front door to the house is in the rear, up some steps, under that big arched portico.

Day 4 - Double Delight

Well, this theme is getting me up and out early! You can tell by the shadows. I took a picture of these doors plain, then decided to take them also showing the entry gates, or at least one of the double entry gates. I love the combination of the two, so that's the picture you get to see! The detail on the front doors is amazing - click on the photo above for a larger version.

Day 3 - Welcome to Fan-ta-sy Island!

I went out early this morning to look for a gate or door, since we're going to play golf today. Maybe playing "at golf" would be more appropriate, grumble, grumble. Anyway, still lots of shadows due to the hour but I wanted to get the picture taken, processed and posted before tonight. The first thing I thought of as I went past this house was "Fantasy Island" but since so many Worthians are so young, I'm now thinking that "Survivor" might be more appropriate, though this is hardly remote. Enjoy!

Day 2 - Doggie Peephole

This entry gate is located about a block or two from my house. I've walked by it many times, but never noticed the little opening in the glass that I'm guessing serves as a doggie peephole. So I crouched down to see if there was a dog inside, but alas, no dog. But I did see a colorful potted plant further back in the patio, so decided to frame that with the opening in the gate! Amazing what we notice when we're on a mission!

Day 1 - Welcome!

Welcome to my home! What better (and easier) way to start my 31 days of Doors and Gates than to take a picture of my own entry gates? Pass through these doors to my secret garden, complete with ferns, flowers, trees and little rock waterfall. I'm looking forward to finding and showing you lots of interesting doors and gates this month!