It was love at first sight.
If you will recall, we went looking for an antique iron gate for our front entryway. And we found it at
The truck arrives:
They measure, they solder, they sweat a lot (it’s close to 100 that day…)
They rust-proof the hinges:
Hanging, but not quite finished…
There are eight rosettes: here is one before we “refinished” it
and here it is, all beautified:
Then, we put on this former latch from a set of outdoor shutters. This way the gate(s) stays closed without having to put a center anchor pole down into the bricks.
And here it is open, with a backstop now attached:
I just love the gracefulness of it. No harsh pointy stakes, nothing too solid to break up the “loveliness” of it. And it most definitely says “Come In”. In fact, during the day we leave it open and close it at night, mainly for the deer (yes, we have them..) who may want to come in for a snack. I know, deer can jump something this high (or low), but I don’t think they will jump onto brick, and into such a small yard.
And last, just to give you a little perspective as to how far we have come in a year!
This was last summer, before we moved in.
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Note the huge, overgrown trees and bushes on the left. And no white fence at all to left, only a bit on the right. |
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We added the white fence to left earlier this spring. |

It calls out for a gate! And that trellis over there on left is now white and the Confederate Jasmine is growing even as you look at it…
Here it is, installed.
Gaines says this came down from Pennsylvania and was probably made around 1900. Needless to say, we are very , very happy with it!