The power of the porch is able to bridge worlds
When the kids are screaming, the dogs are scuffling, the television is blaring, your spouse is cranky and your workday world has frazzled your last nerve, the best medicine is ... the porch.
It’s a magical space that lets you both get away and be at home. A porch is life’s decompression chamber, the perfect place to let whatever’s bugging you float away on the next cloud.
As spring arrives the porch in my new home beckons. So I go hunting for a book I got years ago “On the Porch,” by architects James Crisp and Sandra Mahoney. I take the beautiful picture book out (where else?) on the porch to get inspired, which doesn’t take long.
As I leaf through the book, the images make me feel nostalgic for lives and times I’ve never known, where folks do the best kind of nothing on the porch, where they rock, knit, whittle, visit, court, shell peas, watch the world go by, bathe the dog, cut the kids’ hair, hang the laundry and clean the fish.
I see how front porches are like a house’s handshake, a bridge between worlds public and private, connecting a house to the street, to its community. I see how back porches create the perfect stage for morning coffee and family dinners, a perch from which to watch kids play and dogs frolic.
I call Crisp at his architecture firm in New York, and launch into a lovely conversation about the porch.
“I’ve always loved porches,” said Crisp, who specializes in residential architecture. “Any new home or renovation we do, we try to get a porch in. There aren’t many homes that would not benefit.”
At his own home in Duchess County, New York, Crisp added a porch onto the back of his circa 1790s home. It has become his favorite retreat.
“Whenever I walk on the porch at end of the day, with or without a glass of wine, it changes my mood and outlook,” he said.
“Best blood pressure medication out there,” I said.
Sit a spell and eavesdrop on more of our conversation:
Q
Marni: So, what is a porch, by definition? A
Crisp: “To me, a porch is any covered area that is outside but attached to the house.”
Q
: So a lanai, or a covered patio, covered balcony or covered terrace all qualify?
A
: Yes, and porches can be front, side, back, or upstairs. They can be small — a couple columns supporting a roof — or ample with space for sitting, sipping, dining, visiting, napping, or swinging on a porch swing.
Q
: What do you wish more people knew? A
: That the addition of a porch is probably the least expensive home addition you can make, yet it can transform both the look of your home, and, I’m not kidding, the way you live.
Q
: Since your book came out in 2007, what’s changed?
A
: The best improvements are in screening products like Phantom Screen, a remote-controlled screen that rolls up and hides under the ceiling beam and rolls down at the touch of a button when you want pest protection.
Q
: How big should a porch be?
A
: We break every rule, but if you want a place for a couple of chairs and a bistro table, to comfortably sit and have room for someone to walk by, the porch should be 9 feet deep.
Q:
What about décor? A
: Wicker furniture, of course, is traditional. But you might consider furniture that is impervious to moisture, like glass and iron. You want a couple of chairs that perhaps rock, a small table to set a drink on, a porch swing if there’s room, a ceiling fan and good lighting on dimmers.
I’m ready to go out and do nothing.