We ordered our Simpson fir door from our local lumber yard. It's gorgeous, but we still have to put a finish on it before installing, so no photos. I've provided a link to what we have. You can look through the Simpson catalog on that site for all of their choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: our front door

Our lumberyard could get doors from several different manufacturers, not just Simpson, and they had different suppliers to check for the best price.

We bought our door from a local builder's supply store: CBS Builder's Supply. It's an ODL brand door, model Oak Park. Here is a link to a photo from the catalog:
http://hmp2z.wordpress.com/2007/03/05/duct-duct-goose/

And here is a link to a photo of the door, installed in our house:
http://hmp2z.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/drywall-is-done/

Cheers!
Heather W

Here is a link that might be useful: Our ICF Home Construction Journal

To narrow down your search, first you might decide what material you want it made of. There's the aesthetic aspect of that choice, plus the functional aspect--specifically, energy efficiency. If you want the highest energy efficiency, it will usually be fiberglass (partly because you can get a tighter seal with a fiberglass frame).

If you don't already know about it, it's a good idea to learn about door construction as part of your preliminary research before choosing your door.

We ordered from borano.com. We are thrilled with the door. The link is from their website, as ours doesn't have the grills or the pulls attatched yet. Good luck, there are plenty of choices out there!

Here is a link that might be useful: front door

We haven't purchased ours yet, but we got a quote from oldeworldeart. We didn't want the maintenance headache of wood, and the only fiberglass we liked was the JeldWen iwp aurora old world door, but it had no window options. The oldeworldart doors are made from a composite (like trex) and look beautiful. They sent us a sample with the finish and we really liked it. Something to consider that's unique.

Here is a link that might be useful: composite entry doors

I purchased my door in Mexico. Select Alder, 4'0 X 8'0, select alder jambs and casings, prefinished (altho door in photo is not), 4 solid brass hinges, ironwork is glavanized and powder coated, with swing out iron door to access the glass window, window is 3/4" tempered dual paned glass, door is 2 1/4" thick.
Price was $2600. I am going to pick it up tomorrow, can't wait to see it in my my house!

There are so many choices, daunting, but trust your instinct, the front door is one of the most important aspects of your home (imo).

amyks, you got exactly the door we were going to get from Borano until we decided that a wood door wouldn't be the best choice for our plan because we don't have a huge front porch and we were worried about extended exposure to the elements. I love those round door handles (reminds me of Europe), even though their locking mechanisms are quite pricey...anyway, you HAVE to share photos when you're done!

We ended up getting our 6' x 9' wrought iron double roman arch front entry doors from a local company (in No. California), Da Vinci Iron Doors (I have a link to their website on our home building website below).

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home building website

bobleilani, yes, when we are done I will post pictures. That gives me a couple of months or so to figure out how to:-) We never would have bought that door if we didn't have a portico, so I understand your worry. Any luck with your permits?

Amy

Can't wait to see your pictures (sigh!) and here's the code to post photos (they must be stored online) in a message:

(img src="http://theurlofthephoto.com/photo_1.jpg";)

Now just replace the parentheses with and when you click "Preview Message" you will see your photo!

I was sort of reluctant to give up that door, but also did not want problems with the wood in the future, so I'm happy with the door we got - really! :) Oh, it looks like one more round of comments for us...worst thing is about half of the comments that came back was stuff that our designer did not properly address the first time. Ugh!

Leilani

vfish--where in Mexico did you purchase that door? Do they have a website? I'd love to see what they have!

And everyone--where are you getting your fireplace mantels?

gunter, my door came from TJ, the website is:
www.marco-sa.com
01152664685-6009 is their number.
Email, which generally works best is: marcosa@telnor.net

I picked up my door today, it weighs close to 400 lbs, it's just what I wanted and I am sooooo pleased with it. These people are easy to work with, given specific details of your design they should be able to make just about anything.
Good luck...PS, they make mantles too!

vfish--thanks so much! I will look into it!
gunter

gunter, the basement fireplace surround and mantel will be floor to ceiling the stone of the house, the great room mantel is going to be made on site because of the two story room (I wanted something a little more custom in there!) Another is going to be made by my DH and the gc for his library, and the last I picked something simple from a brochure, masco contractor services. It will be by far the least impressive of the lot!

Amy

I will be buying my door from Hubbard Iron Doors. Their link is here www.hubbardirondoors.com What I liked about them is that they have a show room in the Bay area (CA) that I was able to travel to to pick out a huge selection of iron doors. They also have a few other showrooms. The doors are top notch quality and the price is reasonable (for an iron door). I am hesitant to buy someithing from Mexico if I cannot see and touch it first. I hope this helps.

This will be our front door, in fiberglass. I don't remember the manufacturer but if anyone wants the info I can ask our builder.