Front view of home. Sorry about the lighting, the sun was going down.

A wall lantern much larger than what you currently have to compete with the large scale and details of your front door.

Oh boy, that is a gorgeous doorway!

I'd nix the side lamp and hang a pendant light. PERFECT for that architecture style!

The wall lantern was the style I was considering. I think both of those options are nice, Beverly.
Tribix, I love the pendant light but that will take some rewiring and that is never easy in "this old house".
Thanks to both for the responses.

Now THAT is one gorgeous entry and beautiful front door. I love the first (top) lantern that Beverly posted. The shape seems perfect with the rest of the elements on your home.

If you are going to beef up the columns, I would be careful that whatever side lamp you put in is not visually blocked.
That is why I think the hanging pendant would be better and it should not be very difficult for an electrician to fish that wire up to the ceiling.

Deleting double post

This post was edited by lyban on Mon, Nov 10, 14 at 21:38

Now that I've seen the whole house, I agree w/lyban. That front door really NEEDS a pendant light, so much so that it seems to me to be worth having an electrician take a look and see if the wiring can be done to accommodate it. If you've got an electrical box in the wall to accommodate the light you've got now, then wiring for a pendant shouldn't be a problem.

If we chose to go the route of the pendant light how would we cover up the hole that would be left when we remove the wall lantern?

I see the pendant type taking your eyes away from all that beautiful molding.

Simply fill the hole with Bondo, sand the bond so it's smooth, then use primer over the Bondo (bond is red) and then paint your exterior color over the primer. Very easy.
The other way, if, say your siding is textured, is to cut a small piece of the clapboard away, that has the hole in it, cut a new piece obviously the same size, replace the old piece, caulk and sand the sides, then paint. That is a very easy fix.

forboy, a pendant light there would be like the earrings to the beautiful necklace, actually. It would FINISH that stunning doorway and would not detract from anything but rather compliment it.

Her door is very similar to doors in, say, Beacon Hill in Boston, or the White House, etc., and that style frequently has the pendant light, and it's gorgeous.

I really like the large lantern style Beverly posted. And while I love an exterior pendant light, I am not sure you have the height needed.

I love the first lantern that Beverly posted. I love pendant lighting but I don't think you have the height to carry it off.

That door absolutely has the height for a pendant light. You can also do a flush-mount light there if not, but pendant lights come in all different lengths.

I do think that, if you go with side lights, you need one on each side of the door. That doorway is so gorgeous, and it needs lighting of the same stature, IMO.

Also, if you're going to put heftier columns up (good idea!), I'd suggest also adding corbels, hopefully ones that match the two on your door.

Daisy chain - your response made me laugh out loud - so true!

It looks like the porch roof does not extend far enough to the right to allow for a second light.

And as an old-house owner, I so agree with Daisychain on not changing things you don't need to change. Old houses are so full of wijjels and hockets and inbals - oh my!

My house is 1880. Old houses are, and should be, updated all the time. I'm assuming that, at some point, the side light was added, as were those on my house since it's likely they didn't exist in 1880, nor do the circuit breaker box, or the central air conditioning I just had installed, or the plumbingâ¦.

I don't know why people are saying there isn't enough height for a pendant light there, or that it will detract. There is plenty of height and it will look fantastic. Those are precisely the kind of doors and moldings pendant lights are made for.

Wait a sec, I think I get it now.

are those saying there isn't enough height thinking the pendant light would hang from the moulding just over the door?

No, it would hang from the beadboard ceiling, right in the center of the walkway to the door.

No Tibbix~ That's not what I was thinking.

Daisy~ So Funny !! I went as far as to google those words-
Urban Dictionary could not even help me ....
I generally would use a thingamajig instead of a wijjel for that application :)

Beverly posted a wonderful light! If you did decide to have a pendant, here is a mockup. You could cover the other light opening with a plaque of some sort or use a light there as well. So many options! You have a beautiful home!

forboy, I'm trying to give you all the benefit of the doubt here. No need to get snippy. I can understand not liking the idea of the look of a pendant light, but I admit I do not understand saying there is no height for one. There absolutely is. So I thought MAYBE you all thought I was suggesting one be hung from the moulding.

Unless the people who live there and visit are 9 feet tall, there is plenty of room for a pendant light.

aktillery's mockup is great, and the address plaque is also a great idea.

I think your entry is more beautiful than any posted here with pendants and, after seeing aktillery's mockup, I think a pendant detracts fron the lovely swoop on the upper molding. I like Beverly's choice, but check out Lantern and Scroll as well. They have a great selection of lanterns.

I've also owned an older home and agree that sometimes it's better and cheaper to go with the status quo, particularly when one choice over another is negligibly different.

Another option

Here is Bev's suggestion, also beautiful!

I agree with dee that the pendant detracts from your beautiful woodwork. I love the 13:25 posting by aktillery. I also think only one light. Love your door color -- what a charming home.

Great discussion. So helpful. The photoshopped pics really help me visualize the options.
Daisychain - OMG you are dead on. I cannot tell you how many times your scenario has actually happened to us. We have been in this home for 20 years and have been involved in numerous projects - mostly DIY. It can be maddening.
Aktillery - Great idea with the plaque.
Tibbrix - The corbel discussion has been ongoing with DH. He thinks it may be a bit too "gingerbready" for our rather plain farmhouse. We have also discussed shutters. Perhaps I should post the porch/curb appeal questions on the porch forum?
Thanks to all! Lots of great options here.

vwhippie, the corbels would make it too gingerbready IF you use gingerbready corbels. The door with its woodwork gives what is a very simple exterior the heft and interest it needs, esp. with those beautiful tall windows on the first floor. Adding somewhat simple, "farm-housey" corbels would beautifully carry the whole porch with what the door does and balance it out.

As for the old house thing, never say never until the pro says it can't be done. As I said, there has to be an electrical box in that wall for the light you've got. An electrician can tell you if a pendant light can be wired to that box. If not, it can't. But the age of the house has nothing to do with this particular subject. As I said, my house is 1880. I just added an outdoor lamp because when I bought the house, there was a three-bay window in this wall that had rotted out, including the wall, and it made sense to put glass sliding doors in there, so I did. But it's needed an exterior lamp. I finally had an onion lamp installed a few weeks ago. It was a piece of cake. He just drilled a hole, and wired the lamp to the box that is in the wall.

FYI: I was with a couple of kids, a 16 year old girl and 12 year old boy, and I showed them the pics, didn't say one word about who was proposing what. Showed them the pics, and then asked them which new light situation they thought was best. The girl I asked first (boy wasn't even around) and she said the pendant light. The boy actually said, "I"d put a light in the middle" as soon as I showed him just the photo of your front door and hadn't even shown him any of the mockups or even said anything about anything. So he also saw the pendant light right away. Genius kid!

Lol.

Tib~ In no way shape or form was I even remotely "snippy".
You asked a question and I answered.
I NEVER said there was no height for one.

You seem to want to defend your choice when that really isn't necessary.
Since you're calling me out by name,your analogy "a pendant light there would be like the earrings to the beautiful necklace"
I would only say that I don't hang my earrings from my chin.My earrings are off to the side .

It's just my opinion..

Sorry Hippiechick ~ I also like aktillerys post at 13:25. The longer narrower light seems to go well with the height of the door and your high narrow windows.

Oh, good grief. It was a metaphor.

And forboy, if that isn't what you were thinking, i.e.: the height, then why did you respond to my post by saying, No that is not what I was thinking.? I specifically as referring to those who have been saying the ceiling isn't high enough, and I did not do so by name.

I don't feel the need to defend my choice at all. It's not even my choice. It's Hippichick's. I feel the need to defend errant comments regarding my suggestion, namely that there isn't the height for a pendant light or that it would detract from the moulding. Neither is correct.

And the earrings comment was a metaphor.

Cripes.

I could probably mock up a "light" to hang from the ceiling and see if the height/weight feels right.
My DH is a licensed electrician though that isn't what he does for a living and he says it can be done with some effort. Just afraid of what we will get into when we start taking things apart. Also I do like the look of the wall mount options. However as noted by Graywings there is not enough space under the porch for a fixture on the right side of the door. So it would only be the one fixture on the left. I am really into symmetry so that's a consideration.

vw, I was actually going to suggest using cardboard boxes approx. the size of what would be the light and pendant and putting each up separately and living with each for a few days to get a feel for which you prefer. You also can purchase both and jury rig them and hang them, again separately, and see which you prefer, and then return the one you don't want.

How would it be to use brass like the door hardware?