By Andy Valencia
Some wonders of Vashon keep forever, like KVI beach. Others come and go – I still mourn what’s left of the original bike in the tree. Have you seen one of our newer attractions? The Door Fence is located in the alley running alongside “The Village Green” right in Uptown Vashon. And it’s celebrating its 10th anniversary!
The Door Fence started as something far more modest – a rusting wire fence held up by T-posts. Across the alley from this fence is one of our Island’s dentists. Because a couple of his treatment rooms look down onto the alley from above, he approached the owner of the property with the fence – John “Oz” Osborne – with an offer to contribute to the cost of putting up a traditional fence.
Oz’s wife, Jenny, was inspired to build more than a basic fence, based upon something she’d seen on Pinterest. She imagined doing a bulk purchase of recycled doors and having a fence made up of a long row of all sizes and colors of doors. But then somebody – they’re not sure who – suggested at least one should be the “Speak Friend and Enter” door from “Lord of the Rings.” This opened the floodgates.
Oz loved the idea, but immediately suggested that they all be different doors – each drawn from the fiction of a book, movie, or TV show. This is about the time this author heard about the idea from my long-time friend Oz, and I assured him he would be building a new chunk of Vashon history.
The new “door fence” concept set the Osborne family’s imagination into high gear. They quickly thought up many noteworthy doors from their favorite fiction, and started planning how they might line the alley with recreations. The original concept was to have each door be openable, so that an Osborne might pop out from any one of the doors on a given day. But the extra work needed to support so many openable doors defeated this – only the door at the far north end of the row is actually mounted with hinges and a latch.
The first door was the “Sherlock Holmes” door – 221B Baker Street. It was not only the first door, it has also proven to be one of the most durable.
Thus began the great door project. The deal that emerged between Oz and myself was simple: As each door was completed, I’d come over, see the door for the first time, and try to guess which book or movie it came from. We’d then hang the door, adding another installment to Vashon history.
Roughly half the effort of the door project is maintenance. Not just peeling paint or wood rot – the “Twilight Zone” door had a car back into it more than once. The Hobbit Door didn’t allow for wood expansion and buckled. The mirror on the Narnia Wardrobe was never quite right, and its current incarnation is due for yet another fabrication. At some point, a small peaked roof was installed over the doors, and that slowed the weathering. But they’re out in the wet and cold all year, and nature takes its toll.
One of the newer completions is the openable door at the north end – the Oz door into the Emerald City. It was built right before a Strawberry Festival, and we were finishing its construction as quickly as we dared. Over time, I had become more and more involved in the construction and even design of the doors, and we were doing the final assembly even as curious festival tourists peered at us. But whoever controls the fate of woodworking projects smiled upon us that day. All the holes drilled true, all the measurements were accurate, and when we hung it, it hung straight, fit the frame, and smoothly clicked shut. Call it “festival luck.”
Every great project has “the one which got away,” and the fence of doors is no exception. Oz found an actual ship’s door – huge, made of steel and painted with a marine-grade finish. The thought was to create a hatch from the 1972 movie, “The Poseidon Adventure.” Sadly, the door was hundreds of pounds, and too large to fit in any of our vehicles. It would have taken a large tractor with a front loader to even move it into place! Although I offered to pay for half, Oz still decided to let it go.
(But our taste for madness in doors is not entirely extinguished. If you ever come across a bank vault door, please reach out to editor@vashonloop.com).
Each door also has to pass a unanimous vote of the Osborne family members. Oz had a pretty good idea of how to build Rodan’s “Gates of Hell” when Jenny vetoed it. (Oz notes that Jenny always has the ultimate veto power.)
When Oz first described the project to me, I assured him it would become a new Vashon landmark. I was right! Inevitably, whenever we’re out working on the doors, somebody will come by to ask questions and share comments. The fame has spread – literally – throughout the world. The Door Fence is in the Atlas Obscura, and is marked in openstreetmap.org. One day, a group of polite young men visiting from China came by – the Door Fence was recommended on the Chinese version of Facebook, “Little Red Book.”
Although the alley is drivable, you’ll miss many details looking out from your vehicle. Why not buy a drink at one of our local cafes, then take a walk down the alley to study the doors at a leisurely pace? If you see one or two men working on the doors, be sure to introduce yourself and say you read about it in The Loop.
How about that neighbor dentist? Is he happy with the result? Dr. Langland answers: “The doors are fantastic! Patients can sit and ponder the doors while they lie to us about their flossing habits. We are lucky to have neighbors with such creativity!”
