It’s not every child that has mystery doors lining the halls of their home, but Roy and Becky Morton’s children are lucky. It all started when Roy hung one old barn door in their home. “I had this large wall, and I could have hung art, but I had doors. So I hung them like art, thinking of the wall like the mat,” he explains. Roy says the kids would play “what’s behind the doors,” so it became art that entertained.
The reason Roy has so many doors is because he owns Architectural Heritage, a source for architectural antiques. Mantels, statuary, chimney pots, iron gates, and, of course, reclaimed doors dating from the 18th and 19th centuries are available. “I started working part time in my mom’s antiques shop. Then after I left and worked in another field I realized antiques, especially architectural pieces, were my passion. I’ve been in business 21 years now,” Roy exclaims.
Even in college Roy and Becky enjoyed a good hunt. They purchased a pair of simple stained glass windows from a church in South Carolina, which eventually ended up on their little ones’ nursery walls. The headboard in the master bedroom was created from an oversized door that Roy cut down. And kitchen pantry doors were made from Moroccan panels that were purchased in the south of France. A tour of the Morton’s home is a lesson on repurposing treasures from another time and place and adding character and a touch of history to new surroundings.
