The doorway

The doorway 1. Currently, 2 & 3. Proposed options

One of the architectural elements that we are considering bringing back to the original is the doorway. The stone slab currently there (seen in the first picture) was added on at some point in the past. The dilemma is always the same: an add-on is still part and parcel of a building's history so does one keep it or should one restore it to what would have been the original layout?

In this case, after we discussed it with the architect, the decision was to take it out. There is no practical reason for it being there and it robs the doorway of its original glory. Furthermore there is also a similar cornice a few doors down the road and that still holds the original design.

The next dilemma is what kind of door to install. The one currently there is not big enough so a new one would need to be made. Although the house with the similar cornice further down has a door with panels, the original is more likely to have been more plain (similar to the one we have now). Would love to hear what others think about this.

Our mason's father has been taken to hospital with a bad case of cancer so work on site has stopped for this week. Hopefully work will start very soon.