HAHAHA!

Don't laugh -- That may actually be the best answer...

From what I've seen, it seems like perhaps metal interferes with the wireless signals. And we've got a serious metal door (weathered steel cladding on a steel door).

Would you be listening for that rustic thingy? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VCH9J6Y

Does your house have a TV, washer? Dryer? A second story? Anyone plays music.... Because you may never here those.

There are ton of wireless doorbells... e.g. https://www.amazon.com/GE-Wireless-Doorbell-Battery-Operated-19297/dp/B00L9O542U chose the one you like.

I've seen the wireless options on Amazon, and we may have to go that way. I just dislike the plastic buttons.

Some thoughts. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4608667/anyone-know-of-a-vintage-looking-wireless-doorbell

This my not pertain to you, but our front door is not covered. We went through several wireless doorbells in a short period of time. They all kept on dying.
Found out not all door wireless bells are waterproof. You would think since they are on the outside of a door they would be, but no. If your door is exposed to the elements you need to look for a wireless waterproof door bell. We have had our present one for years. As far as finding one that isn't plastic , good luck.

Perhaps an attractive doorbell button could be retrofitted to the plastic button?http://www.horseshoe-hardware.com/barbara-x.html

This is not a bell, but it serves the same purpose.

ring

Thanks for all the suggestions -- still looking...

We went on the same quest and eventually gave up. We couldn’t find anything beautiful. So we ended up having an electrician run the wiring and installed Spore doorbells. Love them!

I don't know if anyone could figure out this is the doorbell....

https://www.1800doorbell.com/wireless-plugin-door-chime-touch-button-kit.htm

The one in the link below looks great; maybe not wireless, though.

Mission style

This one is craftmaid...again, their website doesn't specify wireless, but does say it requires a transformer for the inside unit...does that mean wireless?

https://www.rejuvenation.com/search?q=wireless+doorbell

Hi Olychick! A blast from the past ;-)

Those are good looking -- which unfortunately means they're wired.

I suspect we're going to have to go the 'YouTube' route and drill a small hole through our new stone wall...

I know Sweeby! Nice to see you here! Not all of those choices require a transformer. The first one is definitely wireless, but maybe too modern?

Yeah - the white plastic one is going to be just too much white plastic for our stone, steel and dark wood entry. The Rejuvenation ones look good though.

Thanks to all who posted here and inspired some great discussions and creative ideas. I've been down the Internet rabbit hole and am reporting back on what I've found. Hopefully this can help the next person.

First off, it seems there is a reason why all the wireless bells are plastic:

"However, wireless signals are affected by metal, so bell pushes should not be placed on UPVC door frames (because of the metal security frame behind the UPVC frame), metal gate posts or where there is foil backed insulation in the path of the chime unit. Similarly some 434MHz systems can suffer interference in particular circumstances (although this is unusual), and the 868MHz models (these are generally the more expensive) do not suffer in this way." (from DoorbellWorld)

But there are options! The British in particular have some great solutions and the website DoorbellWorld.co.uk is an amazing resource! The options I like best split into two core categories that I'll summarize below.

Mechanical Doorbells:

There were doorbells long before there was electricity, and there are some good-looking mechanical options. The second post on this thread shows an antique-style "Mechanical Twist" doorbell. These are designed to go through the door panel with the 'twist' portion on the outside connected via a square rod through the door (or wall) to the 'bell' portion on the inside. You can buy antique or reproductions in a number of popular finishes. Twist Doorbell at Home Depot There are also more modern-looking options - Wind-Up Doorbell and Turn Bell.

You can also search for 'Butler Pull Bells' and 'Shop Bells' and see tons of cool options using pulleys, pull chains and ropes.

Wired to Wireless:

The other main option seems to be connecting a conventional (good-looking) wired doorbell button to a wireless operator and having the wireless doorbell do the work. The YouTube video mentioned above does this: YouTube Wired to Wireless The DoorbellWorld site I mentioned above sells the exact system this person used, but I also found a US equivalent Honeywell Wired to Wireless Converter that says it will do this. This is the route we plan to take and I'll let you know how it goes.

If you're not a DIY'er, the following Already Converted Wired to Wireless buttons work with the British wireless operators. They're a little pricier, but come ready to go in a box. Some of the British wireless units are battery-powered, so they should work here as well.

Sweeby - good to see you!

Try painting the white plastic and see if it help. No matter what they aren't very nice looking though. I had a similar dilemma over 15 years ago. You'd think by now they would have gotten better. The wireless might not work great with all the stone so would be worth testing it first.

Hi Lyfia! Yeah - That was Hubby's first suggestion. But honestly, it still wouldn't be terribly attractive. If the 'wired to wireless' doesn't work, that's where we'll go.

But you'd think manufacturers would have caught on by now that there are a number of us who care and are willing to pay way too much for something good-looking!

Just updating to let you'all know the conclusion to the doorbell saga:

We ended up buying the Honeywell system I described above: a 'Series 5 wireless doorbell' and an Adapter/Converter that is supposed to take the signal from the wired button and send it through the adapter to the wireless doorbell. Note I said 'supposed to'. We spent a lot of time and effort trying to get it to work, including more than an hour on video chat with Honeywell advanced-level Support - they really tried! But no matter what, we couldn't get it to work! No one has any idea why. We tried a second wired button, thinking the first was bad, and a second adapter, thinking that might be it, but could never get it to work correctly, though a signal did go through.

But - I liked the Honeywell wireless doorbell, so decided to try to make that work. We have a large wooden post right by the door, so after testing to make sure the bell worked through all the wood and metal and stone, we made a hole and buried the button, then covered it with a plate:

And finally, the almost-finished Door:

We need to paint the trim and install the threshold, but otherwise, we're done.

One of these days I'll post about how we put a 5' wide door into a 3' wide opening, but that's a story for another day.

Wow, last I remember seeing you posting, I think, (but I don't frequent this forum much) you were remodeling a tiny little place making it livable? Obviously not the same place? This looks amazing!

Industrial modern. Neat!

Very funky! Took me awhile to figure out where the doorbell was

Thanks! -- Actually Oly, it is the same place! Not a tiny place (~4,000 SF) but you're right that it wasn't livable when we started.

We're getting a gong.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/727080633/mid-century-modern-wireless-doorbell?gpla=1&gao=1&;