A Dutch door is split horizontally so the bottom half can stay latched while the top half swings open. It’s also called a stable door or half-door, and the barn association helps explain the informal name Mr. Ed door. That nickname points to the talking horse from the 1960s TV series Mr. Ed, who was often seen at just such a half-height stall door. Margaret in Nashville found the pop-culture label worked better than the architectural one when describing a boathouse plan. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “A “Stable Door” or “Dutch Door” Keeps Its Lower Half Closed While the Top Half Opens”
My friend Margaret in Nashville does paddle boarding and she was talking about some architectural plans for their new boathouse and she put a post on Facebook about it that I wanted to share.
She writes for months I’ve been trying to describe a Dutch door setup we want at the boathouse. I’d estimate one out of every 15 people knew that term, and then we go back and forth on what to call it.
Split door? Service counter door? Door where you stand for half of your life trying to get a package at the post office?
Today, the young door salesman says, I’ve heard it called a Mr. Ed door. People seem to get that.
So there you go. A Mr. Ed door. That makes a lot of sense to me because it’s in the credits of every episode, right?
Yeah. A horse, of course. It’s like the stall door for a horse barn. I like that. A Mr. Ed door.
And now we’ve dropped an earworm. Yes. Of course, of course, of course, of course.
I was trying to get you to do that, and you did. It works. Thank you. Victory for you and the millions of people listening.
