Question
I am looking for any information or additional photos of this style of door casing treatment. I have seen a few incarnations of it in photos of the White House and even in old movies, but never a good enough image to actually determine how it is put together exactly.
My research has given me the following names for this door/window casing treatment:
1. Crossette
2. Greek Ear
3. Dog Ear/Leg
4. Shouldered Architrave
5. Kneed Architrave
Seems to be in the realm of neo-classical and Federal/Georgian period. I want to combine the shouldered aspect (perhaps with an added back-band) of this style with the more Victorian/Craftsman style elements of cap molding - head casing and parting bead.
Forum Responses
(Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum)
From contributor D:
I don't know much about it, but simplifying would be easy with a backband with large rabbet, and just adjust the reveal on the casing to get the shoulders.
I like these crosette corners a lot, too. I've seen them at museums recently, which is kind of fun. The Getty remodeled the original museum in Malibu a few years ago, and they decorated doorways with that style of casing. It's a pretty sharp look and can be taken to extremes very easily with multiple backbands. One cool thing is that you can avoid a big miter in the face of the casing - just butt joint the casing in a trabbeated design (let the head casing project beyond the leg), then miter the backband around the offset. Simple to do, but a nice complex look.