The Porch

By Janice F. Booth

For those “of a certain age,” a porch, a swing, and a summer evening evoke memories romantic and bittersweet. We recall the squeaking swing, the chirping crickets, the crack of a screen door, and mothers calling children and pets indoors for baths and dinner. We feel the lumpy cushions, the humid breeze, and the relentless mosquitoes. Such are the sensations associated with the porches of our youth.

For those who grew up in the latter half of the twentieth century, when air conditioning made porches and open windows obsolete, some contemporary references to porches may capture your imagination: Remember the iconic 1985 film Back to the Future ? The front porch is where Marty and Claudia pledge their love on a summer's evening. If you've seen or read August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences , you may remember the back porch in 1950s Pittsburgh where Troy Maxson recounts his dreams and disappointments. And who can forget Harry Hill leading the marching band past the gingerbread-laden, white-pillared porches of River City in the 1962 movie The Music Man ?

For more than 150 years porches were as much a part of life for the American family as parlors and kitchens. There were formal front porches, hard-working back porches, sleeping porches, and screened porches.

By the 1960s, porches became passé as air-conditioned homes gained popularity and insular family life became pervasive. During the second half of the twentieth century, families closed their doors and windows and settled down on a summer's evening in front of their TVs and computers in air-conditioned comfort.

Attitudes and habits change, however. And with the growing concern for energy efficiency coupled with our interest in neighborhood developments and new urbanism, porches are reemerging as major architectural features for twenty-first century homes.

An American Architectural Icon

The porch evolved as a uniquely American feature, reflecting the expansive American spirit and love of life lived outdoors. Photo by Janice F. Booth

A porch is basically a covered structure, attached to the house at the front or back door. Porches may be small, little more than a stoop or step between the house and ground. Or they can embrace an entire side or even wrap around two or three sides of a house. Some porches rise two stories, or the porch can be a balcony projecting from the second story.

The porch evolved as a uniquely American feature, reflecting the expansive American spirit and love of life lived outdoors. In European architecture, the secluded Italian piazza and pretty Spanish verandah were the forbearers that provided inspiration for the American porch. In contrast, England has grand porticos for country houses and simple, carved lintels above cottage doors.

The roof of an American porch is the defining design feature. A simple slant roof may suffice for back porches, capping a low stoop where boots and tools are left outside the door. Front porches, however, are usually important architectural features, demanding a signature roof and supports, much as the right hat complements a dress or suit.

Mansard, hip, or gabled roofs, defined by eaves and fascia and supported by posts or pillars of wood, brick, or stone give porches their distinctive appeal. Who can forget the columned grandeur of Tara in Gone With the Wind , or the graceful elegance of the White House's semicircular, two-story south porch topped by a third-floor balcony? Handrails and spindles or more decorative balustrades define the porch's boundaries.

Even porch steps play an important role. Wide, shallow steps with sturdy stone or wooden foundations welcome guests and invite casual lounging. Porch steps also serve as a pretty setting for potted plants and group photos. (Who doesn't have a fading family photo of five or six casually arranged children lounging on porch steps on a summer's afternoon?)

Make Yourself Right at Home!

Maybe you've decided to add a porch to your house, expand an existing small porch, or give your porch a new look. Well, what about furnishings for this outdoor room? Most of us would start with the ubiquitous porch swing or hammock; they invite lounging and quiet rest. For a bit of privacy, add some plants to screen the view of passersby. Cheerful geraniums, graceful ferns, ivy, and palms soften the porch and bring nature a bit closer while discouraging intruding eyes from the street or the neighbor's house.

If you enjoy indoor plants year-round, bringing your houseplants onto the porch for the summer can be like sending those pale houseplants to summer camp. When you bring them in again in the fall, they'll be lovely, lush and hardy. (A couple of cautions: when the plants return indoors, give them a dousing of aphid spray, in case unwanted hitchhikers have invaded your flower pots. And after spending all winter in the sheltered environment of your home, houseplants may need to start with an hour outdoors the first day and gradually stay outdoors longer each day until they have adjusted to outdoor conditions.)

Screens and shades provide additional privacy. Inexpensive bamboo roll-ups filter the sunlight and allow breezes to come through. There's no reason to let anything bug you while you enjoy your porch. Screens are often added to part or all of the porch to keep mosquitoes and flies at bay. And if your porch is wired for electricity, you can add lighting, a radio, and fans to enhance your leisure-time experience. (Yes, you can plug in your laptop too, should you feel the need to get some work done while enjoying your porch.)

Rattan, wicker, and wrought-iron furnishings are designed to provide weather-resistant, carefree, comfortable furnishings for the porch. Add some washable throw pillows and cushions, a few tables for drinks and magazines, and a throw rug or two, and your porch is ready for habitation.

They're Back!

Architectural historians Barbara B. Brown, John R. Burton, and Anne L. Sweaney are leading the new urbanist movement to reintroduce porches to urban architecture. “The porch is an unusually flexible domestic setting…[it] seems to provide for desired solitude without loneliness and social contact without intrusion.”

New urbanists point out that porches encourage a sense of community in our neighborhoods. When individuals and families spend time on their porches they are observing the neighborhood, watching out for neighbors, and getting to know one another. Children play with their neighbors outdoors while adults are close at hand but not intrusive.

There is a natural mingling of age groups when porches are in use. Elderly residents feel less isolated as they sit on their porches watching children play and families go about their business. Busy neighbors begin to greet one another and notice the infirmities of the elderly and the patterns of daily life without being labeled “nosy neighbors.” Crime diminishes and a sense of well-being and shared values develops within the community.

Think Green!

Porches are part of an environmentally responsible style. When porches fell out of favor in the early '60s and beyond, large garages took their place on the front of new houses. This visual change symbolized the general lifestyle change for the house's inhabitants. Instead of walking to the corner to drop a letter in a mailbox, we jumped in our cars and drove to the post office. We no longer felt it was safe to let our children walk four blocks to school; there was no one out to see them pass by. So we loaded children on buses or into cars and drove them four blocks to school. The corner store languished and closed, so there was no need to walk out for a quart of milk and an evening paper; we hopped in our cars and drove to the grocery store to “stock up.” Some communities were even designed without sidewalks, a clear statement of how little value was placed on being outdoors in the neighborhood.

New home designs reflect our growing disillusionment with our cars. Pretty porches are once again gracing the fronts of houses and garages are returning to the backyard, where they are much less intrusive. Sidewalks are being added to existing neighborhoods and new communities are designed with sidewalks and neighborhood play areas.

Porches can save money on our home fuel costs as well as enhancing our neighborhoods and improving our health. They offer a way to gain seasonal comfort that's an alternative to keeping our homes sealed up year-round. During the moderate seasons of spring and fall, before the heat and humidity become intolerable, throw open the windows and head out to the porch. You'll find a perfect place to read a book, chat with a friend, work on your laptop, or take a quick nap. Breezes will cool you, sun will warm you, squirrels and birds will provide entertainment—the only other thing you could possibly want is summed up in an old Irish blessing:

May your home always be too small

To hold all of your friends,

And your porch large enough

To welcome one and all.

Janice F. Booth is a freelance writer and adjunct professor at Anne Arundel Community College teaching public speaking and journalism.