I was at a auction and found two 8' x 3' door slabs made of ash with glass in the center . I really loved the doors and they went pretty cheap so I bought them . My carpenter was able to make the door frame and put them together to make a double front door and I am really happy with them . I didn't add a transom because they were already very tall doors but that would have been a simple addition . Good Luck

Great ideas everyone! I haven't heard of Smart Glass, I will have to check that out. Boopadaboo - my husband had the same idea to put drapes on the outside of the door. Unfortunately we only have three inches on each side of the door because of built-in bookshelves. They are part of the judges panelling so they can't really be removed. nancyinmich - I'm in MI too! Same issue with this solution as the previous. Not enough space at the sides of the door for them to fold back. Since my french doors are rather wide the panels would actually project further into the room than the depth of the bookcases so that won't work. WhiteRiverSooner - this might just be it! Do you mind if I ask if you made them, had them made or purchased them from somewhere? Because of the position of the door knob (relative to where the glass starts) I only have one inch. Wonder if that's enough to hide the side rings?

There are handymen and carpenters who may see your question and offer a more authoritative answer than I can (I build furniture) but it doesn't sound exorbitant. I don't know what the door "system" itself costs, but installation labor can vary widely depending on where you live. You won't know for sure whether it's reasonable unless you get multiple quotes.

Cheril and Roseabbey: Thanks for the pictures. Both your doors look terrific as well. Sue36 and oceanna: We don't have to leave the door open but wanted to have it more open to the finished basement so it feels part of the living space, especially when folks are actually down there. jlc712: We thought the same thing about having the door swing in, but it is indeed against code to have a door open over a staircase. We went online last night and found a nice split french door available special order from Home Depot. We are going to take our measurements in and see if it may work. Then the open door would still block the hallway but not as much. We are still weighing our options but I think we are leaning towards keeping a glass door on versus taking the doorframe out and just wrapping with drywall. Most of the open staircases are wider and our's is just a normal 32 inch door opening. Again everyone's input has been so helpful.