New Side Gate

I’m very excited, I’m getting a new side gate for my house. I always wanted a nice wrought iron gate, and finally found an artist to make me one.

Here it is in rough form:

It is to go between the houses to block off the driveway (too narrow for our car anyway);

That looks awesome. I really like the house as well.

Thanks!

It’s an older house - built in 1932 - neglected for decades by the previous owner (which is both good and bad - it has many original features untouched); I’m very slowly making various improvements to it.

Our neighbourhood (the Kingsway in Toronto) has an interesting history, it was all designed by a fellow with the improbable name of Home Smith as a sort of enclave of house design - with the effect that every house in the area is different.

Oh, wow, that’s awesome! I’m not normally a huge fan of iron gates, but that one is really beautiful. Congratulations!

The gate is pretty, but your house is prettier! I like both very much.

Very nice! Will you have to attach it to the neighbors house as well? And interesting that she has no windows on that side of the house, were they all blocked in perchance?

There are some windows, but they are only basement light wells. I think that was the original situation.

Fortunately I am on good terms with my neighbour, and she agreed to let me bolt the gate to her wall - makes it a lot easier to hang a heavy gate.

To follow up, here it is installed:

Wow, that looks great! If you don’t mind sharing details, does the artist have a website and about how much did it run you? Is that tacky to ask? We’re in the market for driveway gate and I hate everything we’ve seen in the store.

I don’t mind answering questions. I was in the same boat myself - I hated the designs I saw in the stores, even the specialty ironwork stores. I (or rather we, my wife felt exactly the same) wanted something different.

I have the artist’s name at home and I’ll gladly post it and PM you & anyone else with his contacts. He’s a local Toronto fellow and he does not as of yet have a website.

This gate cost CAN $3,800, all inclusive. This is a bit less than twice as much as for a premade gate or a gate made from premade components from an ironwork store, we found. I didn’t bargan very hard with the fellow, I used to do craft work myself when I was younger and I have a soft spot for artists & craftspeople.

Hi, Malthus. I just came across this thread and the photos of your attractive gate. We want to install a driveway gate and have been looking for something different from the standard designs offerend by local companies. I would really love to know the name of your designer. If you don’t mind, can you send me his contact information?

Beautiful work! You must share the designer/artist with us. My wife is looking to have a railing made for our front step.