Walking through the shipping dock, where a lot of our photos are taken, I passed the piece of grillwork shown above. I went back to take a closer look because I noticed that there were flecks of color in the finish. If you click on the photos you will see the detail in the finish – the patina on this is amazing.
There is moss that looks like barnacles and, combined with the rusted iron and the leavings of peeled away paint, it makes the most beautiful display. It could not be replicated – something like this takes so many, many years to develop. I went back inside to get my camera, and then wandered through the yard looking at other examples of grillwork.
This is a detail from a pair of massive iron gates. They are so huge and heavy, the men could not move them, they had to use the forklift.
There is grillwork in a good portion of La Puerta Originals’ projects and the variety is incredible. Not only is antique grillwork employed, but LPO does a lot of custom iron work. This can be a piece that is directly based on or inspired by an antique design, or it can be an entirely new creation designed to fill a specific need, or designed by a client.
Let’s start off with one of my favorite pieces of antique grillworks, shown above. This is from a Northern New Mexico jail. La Puerta Originals bought all of the grillwork when it was demolished. It is a fascinating piece of New Mexico history. There is graffiti and there are hatchmarks scratched into the surface of the paint and iron. This grillwork has been used in a variety of projects, such as door sidelites or gates, but it seems to be used most often for wine cellar doors, such as the one shown below.
Another type of grillwork is from window coverings from Ragistan. The grillwork is set into a wooden frame for the window that is much like a carved picture frame.
Though these two pieces look similar at first glance, a closer inspection reveals that they are of different styles.
The first I think of as a tire pattern, the second as a rope pattern.
It is amazing to me that they look as though they are woven from something flexible, such as rope or rawhide. Often when grillwork from these windows is used, the spikes that hold the grill to the frame are clipped or utilized again to hold the grill in place, but in the door below, crafted from an antique Mexican door, they are left intact and give the door a rustic, rather medieval feel.
The grill below is yet another style of weave. Looking closely at the picture it is possible to see remnants of a painted flower design on the frame.
This grill was incorporated into the front entry for the same client as the previous door. Custom iron strapping with large clavos edge the top and bottom of the door. The picture is rather deceptive in terms of showing the scale of the door – it is over 8 feet tall and almost 6 feet wide.
There is also antique cast grillwork from fencing or grates to stoves (they make great door peep covers, as Scott jokingly illustrates below).
On the door shown below, made of reclaimed Douglas fir, several sections of cast iron grillwork are artfully combined over bubbled glass.
The grill used in the gate shown below is from an antique window grill of another sort. 
They are frames from Colonial Egypt that extend out from a window several inches, swinging up on hinges, that are lined with mesh screening. 
Above is one that ended up being made into a fireplace screen. With the mesh screening removed as it is incorporated in the gate, the grillwork feels surprisingly elegant, like the framework of a spider web. It works beautifully with the antique Mexican door that forms the basis of the gate.
The door below, made with carved panels and reclaimed Douglas fir, uses a delicate antique grillwork that I imagine almost disappears at a distance.
I love this grillwork. It is am trying to find out the period and place from which the doors hail.
As for doors for which LPO has crafted the grillwork, the styles are just as varied, from modest to ornate:
Simple knobbed rods front custom bubble glass in this shuttered door that incorporates antique carved panels and reclaimed Douglas fir.
This door is comprised of an antique Mexican door, antique decorative edging and reclaimed Douglas fir. Small spirals grace the intersections of the iron bars that cover the non-operable peep.
While not metal, I love the use of wooden pegs for the "grillwork" in this transom. The door in constructed with carved panels originally from columns from a library that was entirely paneled in wood.
I will have to research the provenance of the materials used to make this pantry door, which I find so dear. Curling grillwork decorates the shutter.
Knobbed rods are used, again, with bubble glass, and scrollwork adorns the arched transom. This library entry is constructed with carved panels from a Pakistani cabinet from the '30's and reclaimed Douglas fir.
Getting a little more elaborate, the custom grillwork on these sliding doors is nicely framed with heavy reclaimed Douglas fir.
And wow! How beautiful is this? A front entry framed with carved columns and set with intricately carved inlay.
The scrolling grillwork is the crowning touch for this gorgeous door.
Cast iron grillwork finishes this transom constructed with elaborately carved sections of antique door surrounds and reclaimed Douglas fir.
The door, with transom, as seen from the exterior of the house.
The door with transom, as seen from the foyer of the residence.
Grillwork has been used to nice effect in some of the custom kitchen cabinets that La Puerta Originals has created:
Here carefully fitted grillwork adds interest to the back of the kitchen cabinets.
Fine grillwork with a rusted patina fronts this under sink kitchen cabinet.
Here are some of the other items La Puerta Originals has created with a variety of grillwork:
Cast grillwork is welded into a frame for this table base that will have a glass top.
Antique grillwork is welded into this balcony railing.
Custom scrolling grillwork is fitted into this table created with antique fragments and legs. A tempered glass top will complete the piece.
Antique scrolling grillwork is fitted into brackets for these shelving supports.
Antique grillwork is framed with antique wood to form this window that will be set into a garden wall.
This grillwork was custom made at La Puerta Originals for a stair railing and catwalk of a custom home in Colorado.
The railing curves all the way up to the second floor.
The catwalk connects two wings of the home.
Here grillwork is set outside this colorful shuttered window.
These grilled, curved windows were designed and built for The Scorpion Bar in Connecticut. If you look very closely you can see them and other items, including the bar La Puerta Originals built, in the virtual tour on their website (turn your sound down first!)
And lastly, here are some antique doors from the yard that have some special grillwork. Like the elephant gates, I can’t wait to see how they are used!
