Is it picture frame molding?

I beleive that type of treatment is called Picture frame moulding... You can get it in all different styles/shapes/etc. anywhere that carries millwork. Often times used undfer chair rail as wainscoting, but also above the chair rail and under crown to create texture and architectural details to plain walls... People can paint it same color as the wall, in a contrasting color, can put a 3rd color inside the moulding, or even wallpaper each inset panel... It all depends on the style and age of home, formality of space and what was done historically...

This post was edited by KMBC on Wed, Jul 10, 13 at 13:59

This Old House magazine sometimes calls them Wall Frames.

I often hear them called Paneled Walls, but it is confusing.

Google (images) - "picture frame mouldings on walls" , you'll get lot's of pics.

ML

speaking of names you have a "mourning" room? is it a funeral home?

(not meant with any malice, okay? just struck me as funny)

Violet -- it struck me as funny too... also no malice intended. Many times, I type faster than I think.

oh, me too, definitely!

Without bothering to any research, I'm sure that she's talking about the front formal parlor. Families often used that room for the wake, possibly the only time it was used. Therefore, Mourning room.

Thank you so much for your responses. The mouldings are already on the walls, I believe they are plaster. There is an outside moulding then a flat area followed by an inner moulding then the large flat area in the middle. The ceilings are 9 ft high so the panels are probably a good 6ft high.
And yes, it is a real mourning room, my next door neighbor told us about being called in for a viewing of the elderly woman who lived there, it was the first time she saw a body and since she was only a little girl at the time it made a lasting impression...the room also has large pocket doors to facilitate getting a casket in and out. We have never had any sightings or problems(knocking on wood)

wow, that is very interesting! sorry to make fun then. A "morning" room would make more sense to me. Maybe it's an East Coast or other cultural thing (spoken as a Western girl.)

'poligies!

This post was edited by Violet.West on Wed, Jul 10, 13 at 18:57

Morning (without the U) is the common usage. It was typically a sitting room used in the morning by the ladies of the house and generally on the southeast side of a building. In decoratve formality it ranked under the main sitting room or parlor and was often decorated in a feminine style. It was the sort of room where very close personal friends (women) and family might visit in the morning (as opposed to in the afternoon during the period devoted to formal calling on friends) and also where the Lady of the house would write letters, review the day's menus and discuss household plans with her staff. Although it is a "public room" in the sense that it is not connected to a bedroom, it was the sort of room that wasn't usually used by men, although sons, husband's and brothers would probably be welcomed.

It was common in the 19th c. to have caskets in the front parlor, where the funeral was also performed. Needless to say this was before the advent of modern commercial mortuary businesses.

Pocket doors are not so much intended to provide egress for a casket (and the caskets were smaller than those nowadays because people generally were smaller and the extra-large burial vaults were not used) as a way to be able to combine two parlors into one for entertaining - this is the double parlor so often used in the late 19th c. Also smaller rooms were ieasier to heat and for everyday purposes rooms were often closed off to save on heat costs, except for a party, of course.

HTH

L.