Door

Lore & Background

The earliest recorded doors appear in paintings of Egyptian tombs, showing single or double doors of a single piece of wood. Tombs often included false doors, thought to be doors to the afterlife. In Egypt, where the climate is intensely dry, doors were not framed against warping, but in other countries required framed doors with stiles and rails. The most ancient doors were made of timber, such as olive wood, elm, cedar, oak, and cypress. Two doors over 5,000 years old have been found near Zürich, Switzerland.

Reader's Guide

Doors have been integral to human architecture for millennia, evolving from simple wooden panels to complex metal and stone constructions. The earliest recorded doors appear in Egyptian tomb paintings, and ancient examples include bronze-sheathed gates from Balawat and stone doors from Syria. Greek and Roman doors included single, double, triple, sliding, and folding types. The first known automatic door was created by Heron of Alexandria in the first century AD, and a foot-sensor-activated automatic door was installed in China during the Sui dynasty. Medieval bronze doors, such as those at Hildesheim and the Cathedral of Florence, demonstrate advanced metalworking. Doors also carry symbolic weight, as receiving a key can signify a change in status, and they appear in literature and the arts as metaphors for change.

Did You Know?

• The earliest recorded doors appear in paintings of Egyptian tombs.
• Two doors over 5,000 years old have been found near Zürich, Switzerland.
• The Greek scholar Heron of Alexandria created the earliest known automatic door in the first century AD.
• The first foot-sensor-activated automatic door was made in China during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui.

From Firefighter to Founder: The Birth of Murphy Door

Jeremy Barker was a firefighter before he ever considered building a company. What began as a DIY solution for his own living space quickly evolved into a commercial venture. Barker launched the business part-time, initially reaching customers through online sales channels rather than a traditional retail presence. The core idea was deceptively simple yet transformative: take a plain passageway or wall and turn it into something that doubles as a bookshelf, a cabinet, a mirror, or even a piece of decorative art, while still concealing a functional door behind it. This marriage of utility and aesthetic disguised entryways became the company's signature.

A Steep Financial Ascent

The revenue curve for Murphy Door reads almost like a case study in rapid scaling. The company then navigated the global pandemic, a period during which its revenues roughly tripled from around seven million to twenty million dollars as homeowners sought creative ways to maximize limited square footage. That momentum never stalled. The trajectory underscores a company that moved from a side project to a major player in the concealed-furniture space in roughly a decade.

Craftsmanship and the Made-to-Order Model

Murphy Door's product philosophy centers on the idea that a doorway does not have to look like a doorway. The company's primary offering is a custom hidden door system that embeds a passageway into what appears to be a bookshelf, a cabinet, a mirror, a wall panel, or another decorative architectural element. Beyond concealed entryways, the catalog extends to Murphy beds, hidden compartments, and reinforced door systems, all designed to blend function with the surrounding interior. Operationally, the company takes a distinctly American manufacturing stance: production is carried out domestically at facilities in both Utah and Kentucky, rather than being outsourced overseas. Every unit is built to order, meaning each installation is tailored to the specific dimensions and design preferences of the customer's space. Sales flow primarily through a direct-to-consumer model, cutting out middlemen and allowing Barker's team to maintain close relationships with the homeowners and designers who commission their work. This combination of domestic, made-to-order production and a direct sales channel gives Murphy Door a level of control over quality and customer experience that mass-produced furniture competitors simply cannot match.

Recognition and Pop-Culture Crossovers

Industry validation has kept pace with Murphy Door's financial growth. Beyond trade awards, Murphy Door has crossed into mainstream pop culture through a collaboration with Lionsgate and Hulu on the hit series Only Murders in the Building. The partnership involved the development of custom hidden door installations for the show, effectively turning the company's signature product into a narrative device on a widely watched streaming platform. This kind of visibility does more than generate brand awareness; it demonstrates that the concept of a door hiding behind a bookshelf or a mirror resonates with a broad audience, not just architects and interior designers. For a company that began as a single hinge mechanism in a Utah home, the leap to television set design is a fitting testament to how universal the appeal of cleverly concealed spaces truly is.