- The Luke Miller House features many one-of-a-kind, handcrafted, nail-less, solid wood doors, likely made by Miller family members and their neighbors
- Most of the doors retain their original hand forged iron hardware, which was made in the Miller blacksmith forge in the early to mid-18th century
- The dark red stain, on the interior keeping room door with the German hex, is original and is one of the oldest examples of paint making in the state of New Jersey; it is a concoction of cranberry juice and sour cream; the hex may denote that the door was made by a neighbor of German ancestry, or perhaps was added sometime in the past by a German house guest as an enduring remembrance to thank the Miller’s for their hospitality
- The Dutch doors in the 1950s east wing are the original doors installed by Mr. & Mrs. Roy H. Kirch, Sr. when this addition was built; the Kirch’s purchased the amber bull nose leaded glass window in a local antique shop and had it installed to replace the standard 9 true-divided panes of glass
- The forge door did not feature a Craftsman-style 12-pane window when drawings were made of it during the 1936 Historic American Buildings Survey; however, the keeping room door did feature a similar window at that time and likely provided the inspiration for this later 20th century addition to the forge door
- David L. Miller carved his name in the wooden inset to the right of the forge door; look carefully and you will see it
- The French sliders leading to the stone patio were installed in 2006 and replaced the original 1950s sliders that were installed by the Kirch’s in their east wing dining room addition
- The wooden door with wooden latch at the bottom of the stairs in the keeping room is an antique door added by former owners Rae and Al Chrone sometime between 1976 and 1996; the Chrone’s were able to close the door from upstairs by pulling on invisible fishing line that was attached to the door below; Chrone family members often played ghost tricks on guests by making the door mysteriously close “by itself” by pulling on the fishing line from upstairs
- The wooden storm door on the north side formal entrance to the house is an antique door added by former owners Rae and Al Chrone sometime between 1976 and 1997; one of their son’s made a double-pane window intended for installation into the storm door so that the door didn’t have to be opened to see who was outside; the Chrone’s decided against altering the antique door this way and instead used the window alone with some LED rope lighting in the master suite hallway to allow viewing of the original plaster and lathe construction
- One door leading into the living room is original to the house while the other was purchased by former owners Rae and Al Chrone at an antique shop; can you tell which one is the original? Carefully compare them to the door leading into the master bedroom and you’ll be able to tell which of the living room doors is the original
- The “cat door” at the top of the stairs leading from the ground floor to the first floor may be the oldest pet-friendly door in the state of New Jersey
- The “cat door” and the small door at the top of the stairway leading down to the root cellar/wine cellar were both featured in the 1936 Historic American Buildings Survey; these doors were removed by Nelson Dane when he sold The Luke Miller House in 1976 and were installed, after some minor alterations, at his home on the Pine Valley Golf Course in South Jersey; the doors remained there until the early 2000s, when Mr. Dane sold this home (he was nearing the age of 80, living full time in Florida, and didn’t play golf much anymore); the doors were transported to Mr. Dane’s home in Sarasota, Florida, where they remained in storage; when Mr. Dane heard that a new owner bought The Luke Miller House in late 2005, he contacted his son in East Hanover, who in turn contacted a friend in Madison, Mindy Jaslove, a local disc jockey, who stopped by to meet the new owner, David Quirk; Ms. Jaslove provided Nelson Dane’s telephone number along with his request to be contacted so that he could return the doors; Mr. Dane was now in his early 80s and had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and indicated he wanted to return the doors to their rightful home; Mr. Quirk arrived home from work one day shortly thereafter and found a huge box at the front door containing the well-packed doors with original hand forged iron hardware; the Pine Valley-era alterations were promptly removed, and the doors and hardware were reinstalled in their original locations in 2007 after a 30-year journey up and down the east coast
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