Secrets of a Secret Door
- Nick Gardner
- Nov 5
- 5 min read
What are the secrets of creating a hidden or secrete door?
A secret door can bring out your inner child or simply preserve the harmony of an interior design; they provide both surprise and delight, and can also hide away a functional room or space.
These doors can appear to be deceptively simple, but it can be challenge get the details right for a seamless 'hidden' effect.
We will look briefly at the origins of hidden doors, also know as ‘Murphy’ or ‘Jib’ doors, their function, and the design secrets that make them work successfully. Secret doors can also be installed in floors as well as walls.
The secret is in the details...
THE RENAISSANCE TO PROHIBITION
Over time, the use of hidden doors evolved from purely functional to more elaborate and secretive.
Classical Secrets: In renaissance neoclassical interiors, secret or ‘jib’ doors were designed to disappear into the wall when closed. They were installed without a visible frame or architrave and the skirting board and wainscot panelling would continue unbroken over the surface of the door. These doors allowed servants to move around the house unseen by the occupants or guests and the architectural detailing of the door did not disturb the visual composition of the interior design.
Speakeasy Secrets: During the 1920’s era of America’s Prohibition, secret doors were used to conceal illegal bars or ‘speakeasies’. The doors were secreted into the back of legitimate businesses or storefronts.
Modern-Day Secrets: Modern installations of secrete doors are as varied as their historic counterparts. Driven by both a desire for form and function together with a sense of fun they can provide ideal solutions to the demands of modern interiors.
A ‘Murphy’ door would typically hide a door behind a bookcase and the more sophisticated designs may unlock the door with a book-pull or hidden button.
A ‘Jib’ door typically disappears into wall panelling or wainscotting and the wall finish of paint or wallpaper is continued over the surface of the door.
Surprise and Delight: A secret door can add a whimsical or playful touch to a family home, with a bookcase that opens into a TV den or playroom, a mirrored door that reveals a trophy room, or a door that reveals a guest room or WC. Hidden trap doors in a floor could open to reveal a wine cellar or basement storage.
Minimal Design: Hidden doors can be used to create sleek modern spaces by concealing a storage cupboard or cloak room. They allow the wall surfaces appear unbroken and help to maintain a minimal aesthetic.
Maximum Security: For those seeking advanced protection, a bullet proof door with steel cores can be engineered to act like a bank vault. Hidden doors can be used to conceal a modern-day panic room and the door release mechanism may be hidden or wirelessly operated.
THE HIDDEN OR ‘JIB’ DOOR
The challenge in designing a jib door is to coordinate the edge of the door and the necessary break in the wall with the continuous surface finishes. Painted plaster finishes should be edged with corner beads to protect the exposed edges when the door opens.
Alternatively, panelled walls must be carefully designed to coordinate door breaks with panelling joints in order to best hide the door.
Note that the jib door is sized to coordinate exactly with the edges of the panelling.
Traditional door hinges will only work with an outward opening jib door and a further disadvantage is that the hinge butts would be visible. To achieve the jib door illustrated, a more satisfactory solution is to use concealed hinges.
There are two main types of concealed the hinges to achieve a jib door:
A Pivot hinge moves the swing point in from the edge of the door and allows an inward opening door. The bottom pivot fixing plate must be recessed into the floor finish.
A Concealed hinge allows the greatest flexibility. It has a system of connected linkages and a moving pivot point that remains inside the hinge assembly during the door's travel. When the door is opened, the linkages extend and articulate, allowing the door to swing smoothly (up to a full 180 degrees for some models). Invented by Joseph Soss in 1905, the SOSS hinge can carry heavy door weights and is completely concealed when the door is closed.
Note the splayed joint detail in the skirting board helping to give a continuous line to the skirting when the door is closed.
Detail of a Jib Door with a pivot hinge - Note the radiused door stile and frame which allows the door to swing, while providing a privacy or light seal. This detail involves more work for a joiner to achieve and therefore the concealed hinge can be a more economical hinge solution.
Pivot hinges can have a greater bearing weight overall, since the weight of the door is transferred directly to the floor, and not to the door frame. The pivot hinge is typically used for secret doors in the form of bookcases.
THE HIDDEN TRAP DOOR
A hidden door in a floor to a cellar, or service space demands careful detailing to floor finishes, together with practical considerations to ensure the door can be safely walked upon and also easily opened.
Floor finishes are carried through over the door, which may include flush pull handles to open the door manually.
Engineering the door to be strong enough to walk on, together with a hardwood floor finish can make the door heavy to lift and so a combination of gas struts and/or a motorised actuator can make the door more practical to open.
Calculating the correct relative position of the gas strut fixings with the door hinge is critical. It is affected by both thickness of the door and hinge position. The Gas Spring shop has a useful calculator to help work out the geometry of the strut or actuator.
The fixing position may require a specially made bracket to achieve the correct geometry. A linear actuator together with a wireless control can provide a convenient way of opening a hidden floor door.
Gimson Robotics can supply both the actuator, controller and wireless remote.
The heavy weight of a trap door may require heavy duty concealed hinges, which provide a wide separation between fixing points to allow for the depth of floor finishes.
A hinge by Tectus is shown here.
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