In short: a Spanish Revival arched door is a solid wood door whose top is cut to the curve of the opening, usually a full half circle (round top) or a shallow curve (eyebrow). What makes it read as Spanish is the combination: deep raised panels or a Castilian grid, a warm or dark stain that shows the grain, iron hardware and a thick plaster wall around it. Element Decor builds these doors to size in solid white oak, Sapele mahogany, knotty alder and poplar in our shop in Chatsworth, Los Angeles. Interior doors start from $2,500 and exterior front doors from $5,000. You can price your size online; online prices are preliminary until we check your measurements.
What makes an arched door look Spanish Revival?
Spanish Colonial Revival houses, built across Los Angeles from the 1920s and still the style most new Mediterranean homes borrow from, use the arch as their signature. The front door is where it shows most. Five details carry the look:
- The arch is in the door. The top of the door is cut to the curve of the opening. A square door under an arched transom or trim reads as a later fix.
- Panels with shadow. Raised panels, or a grid of small square panels in the Castilian pattern, throw shadows when light comes in low from a courtyard.
- Grain you can see. Oak, alder and mahogany under a stain on front doors and libraries. Painted arched doors belong in bedrooms and halls.
- Iron hardware. Black strap hinges, a ring pull or a thumb latch, sometimes decorative nail heads called clavos.
- A deep reveal. Thick plaster walls let the door sit back from the face of the wall, with a rounded plaster return around the arch.
Round top or eyebrow: which arch fits the opening?
A round top arch is a half circle: its rise, the height from the point where the curve starts to its top, is half the width of the door. On a 36 in wide door the curve takes the top 18 in, so a 96 in tall round top door has 78 in of straight sides below the arch. An eyebrow arch is a shallower segment of a circle, with a rise smaller than half the width. It suits wide openings and pairs, where a full half circle would climb too close to the ceiling.
The opening decides, not the catalog. Measure the width, the height from the finished floor to the top of the arch, and the rise. If the rise is half the width, it is a round top; if it is less, it is an eyebrow. The arched doors page shows the four measurements we ask for.
Six door designs and where each one belongs
| Design | What it looks like | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | Tall arched raised panel over a curved middle rail, lower raised panel | Spanish and Mediterranean front doors, studies |
| Castilian | Arched top panel over a grid of eight square raised panels | Spanish Revival front doors, libraries, wine rooms |
| Two panel | Arched upper panel and a square lower panel | Bedrooms, halls and pantries, often painted |
| Plank | Vertical V-groove boards running up into the arch | Pantries, mudrooms, rustic and coastal houses |
| Fluted | Vertical reeds from edge to edge, no panels | Organic modern rooms, pairs of doors to a courtyard |
| Flush | A smooth face for paint, plaster or microcement | Minimal rooms, doors that blend into a plaster wall |
The Castilian door is the one most people picture when they say Spanish door: every small panel catches its own shadow, and it looks richest under a dark stain. On our price list it adds 10 percent to the Classic design and Fluted adds 12 percent; the other four cost the same as Classic.
Which wood suits a Spanish style arched door?
| Wood | Use | Best finish | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sapele mahogany | Exterior and interior | Clear or a warm stain | The classic front door wood: dense, stable, with a ribbon figure |
| White oak | Exterior and interior | Any stain, natural to espresso | Straight grain, naturally sealed heartwood pores, takes stain evenly |
| Knotty alder | Interior only | Honey, walnut or espresso stain | Warm and full of knots, the traditional rustic Spanish interior door |
| Poplar | Interior only | Paint | Fine, even grain: the paint grade wood of American interior doors |
For a front door that faces the afternoon sun we suggest Sapele or white oak with an exterior rated finish. Knotty alder and poplar stay inside the house.
Finishes that suit Spanish and Mediterranean interiors
- Espresso or walnut stain on oak for the dark, grounded door of a classic Spanish Revival entry or library.
- Honey stain on knotty alder for a warm, rustic interior door or a wine room.
- A custom stain matched to your floors or beams. Send a sample and we make stain samples on your wood before the door is finished. A custom stain adds 8 percent.
- Limewash plaster or microcement in the color of your walls on a Flush door, for the newer Mediterranean look where the door almost disappears into the wall. It adds 20 percent.
- Paint on poplar for bedrooms and halls: olive, putty and soft white all sit well next to plaster.
Hardware and glass
Our doors arrive pre-hung in an arched solid wood frame with the hinges fitted and the edge bored for the lockset you choose. Locksets, handles and any decorative iron are yours to pick, and that is where much of the Spanish character comes from: a ring pull, a thumb latch on a wine room door, black or oil-rubbed bronze finishes. Glass in the arched top panel is an option on any design: tempered glass on interior doors and insulated units with tempered glass on exterior doors.
Where arched doors go in a Spanish house
- The front door, single or pair, round top or eyebrow
- A library or study, often Castilian under a dark stain
- A wine room, knotty alder with glass in the arch
- Pantries and mudrooms, in the Plank design
- Bedrooms and halls, a painted Two panel door
- Doors to a courtyard, a pair of Fluted doors or doors with glass in the arch
What does a custom Spanish arched door cost?
At Element Decor a custom solid wood arched door costs from $2,500 for an interior door and from $5,000 for an exterior front door, finished and pre-hung in an arched frame. A 36 x 96 in round top interior door in white oak starts at $3,350, and the same size exterior door in Sapele mahogany starts at $6,220. The Castilian design adds 10 percent. Online prices are preliminary: we confirm the final price after checking your measurements and sending a drawing, and nothing is charged before you approve it. Doors take 4 to 6 weeks in our shop and ship across the continental United States.
Price your arched door by size
Questions
What is a Castilian door?
A Castilian door has an arched top panel over a grid of small square raised panels; our design has eight. It is the classic Spanish Revival front door and looks best under a dark stain, where every panel shows its own shadow.
Does a Spanish arched door have to be dark?
No. Dark stains suit traditional Spanish Revival entries and libraries. Newer Mediterranean houses with white oak floors and limewash walls often use natural oak, a custom stain matched to the floor, or a door finished in plaster.
Can you match an existing arched opening?
Yes. Send the width, the height to the top of the arch and the rise, with a photo. If the arch is not a true half circle or a simple segment, we make a template of the opening on site in Greater Los Angeles, or you can send us a full size paper tracing.
Do you ship outside Los Angeles?
Yes. Doors ship pre-hung and crated across the continental United States. In Greater Los Angeles our own crew can install them.
Related: solid wood vs fiberglass vs MDF arched doors and front doors for a fire zone rebuild.
