The reason, I believe, they created the textured masonite doors was because the first-introduced smooth doors looked fake. A real wood door has detectable joints where the various rails, stiles and panels meet. A smooth door has none of these and somehow will look "off". I wish that you could get a smooth-surfaced door with tiny lines where the seams ought to be, because I really don't care for the oak-y texture. I guess you could do a wipe-on stain to have a fake grain woodtone effect.
Casey

My current doors are 6 panel colonial with the traditional ovolo sticking. Does anyone have/prefer these in smooth? For some reason Jeld Wen only does textured in the Colonial style. Masonite does have them in smooth. Is there an aesthetic or historic reason the Colonial style would be offered only in textured so that the smooth might somehow look off in this particular style door?

I did see smooth doors in other styles at a showroom and did not think they looked cheap.

We are currently building a house and we chose the smooth doors...I think they will be easier to clean and look classic. The textured are in our current home and just don't look as nice. I do see the previous poster's point about the joints...something to consider. HTH

What exactly is meant by "textured" in this context? I don't think I've ever realized there were two options.

Sombreuil is correct about the detectable joints in real wood doors. I grew up with wooden 4-panel doors from the 1800s, and even with multiple paint coats, the joints were detectable, as was a slight bit of wood grain. My parents recently purchased a reproduction door in the same style - solid wood - and it just looks "different" (I think the door itself is thicker, plus the wood is smoother) but the joints can still be detected.

In my current house, I have (horrors) the "fake wood" 6-panel doors. They're painted white, and I believe they must be the "smooth" option. No, they don't look like real wood doors. But, they do look like the doors in most new houses today, and like what most people are used to seeing. So, I think they would only look bad to an old house purist. (I don't love them, because I am a purist, but I didn't buy this house... my husband did before he knew me.) FYI my house is traditionally-styled with white doors and white trim/baseboards.

Oh yes - they have the ovolo sticking. I believe they are the style to which you are referring, and I believe them to be smooth.

Is it harder to clean textured Masonite doors?

Do they look cheaper than the smooth ones?

The textured doors look like painted oak to me. They are usually cheaper and also hollow. They are easier to paint though as the grain hides sloppy workmanship. They are just as easy to clean as the smooth doors (depending on what paint you use).