A summer classic returns
Screened porches gain popularity as hangout spots with a touch of nature
Before air conditioning became widely available, screened porches were the sought-after place to escape summer heat. Ceiling fans circulated cooler air, wicker and wrought-iron furniture with plump cushions offered a welcome, and the rooms sometimes became a sleeping porch when indoor heat was at its most oppressive.
While the screened porch never disappeared completely as an architectural feature, it did lose some of its cachet as other spaces gained greater appeal as hangout spots — namely, increasingly larger and more roomlike kitchens and landscaped decks and terraces.
But what’s old eventually becomes new ... or at least sort of. The screened porch, also referred to as a screened-in porch, is back and taking center stage. Both homeowners and design professionals recognize that it offers the best of all worlds: a place to enjoy nature — and not just its sights but also its smells, sounds and tastes — while protected from mosquitoes and other annoying bugs, especially at night when lights glow.
Architects and designers nationwide are receiving more requests to enclose an existing porch or build ones from scratch. Fred Wilson, partner at MorganteWilson Architects in Chicago, says the interest is “huge” and “almost 100 percent of clients want one.” In fact, the house he and wife and architecture partner Elissa Morgante built and moved into last fall includes a 15-by-15 screened porch overlooking Lake Michigan.
Architect Terri Crittenden, CEO of the Fredman Design Group in Chicago, also has seen interest soar. Architect James Crisp, whose firm is located in Millbrook, N.Y., has found a similar uptick in requests. “Any house we design or remodel now has a porch,” he says.
Wilson encourages homeowners to remember that it’s still a porch. “The joy of the space is not to be hermetically sealed off from nature as you are in some other rooms,” he says. Here are five key considerations before you dust off the wicker and bring out the lemonade:
Size. While there are no average dimensions, most design professionals recommend the space be large enough to accommodate a table and chairs and seating group comfortably with additional space to circulate. Elizabeth Demetriades, an architect with Demetriades + Walker in Lakeville, Conn., thinks that 10 by 15 should be the minimum, and a better size is at least 12 by 18. The higher the ceiling, the better, she says. Placement: Go with the best view, away from the strongest midday sun but set up for catching a sunset, or put it adjacent to a favorite indoor room. All work, depending on personal preference. Wilson likes to place it on the north side where it’s cooler, when possible. Demetriades advises locating it so it doesn’t block light and good views from coming into the rest of the house. In one project, Demetriades’ firm took a different approach and built a screened porch as a freestanding structure overlooking a swimming pool, making it an adventure to arrive there. Building materials: Some professionals still favor concrete or flagstone for the floor and wood for the walls and ceiling for their old-fashioned appeal, but others are going further afield with flamed granite, local stones, rotresistant woods like ipe and teak, woods like Douglas fir tongue and groove that can be painted or stained, and composite materials that hold up well to cold and moisture. While many homeowners are content with fixed screens, some like the flexibility of systems that can be removed by hand or installed with a mechanized feature that allows them to “roll up” and turn the porch into a wideopen space. Another option is replacing screens for part of the year with glass for more fourseason appeal. Heating a floor with radiant tubing underneath also helps to take away chill, especially for porches used for longer and cooler times, Wilson says. Furnishings: Furniture and cushions that withstand inclement weather used to be the major mantra, so they could be left outdoors rather than hauled inside. Many of today’s furnishings may permit that, but they’ve also gained a much more upscale look, says New York-based designer Marlaina Teich. Chicago designer Michael Del Piero likes to keep indoor and outdoor styles simpatico, though she’s also likely to introduce some earthier touches such as a sisal or jute rug and rattan or wood furniture, along with something special and different such as, perhaps, a candlelit chandelier rather than a traditional ceiling fan.
Ceiling fans that predate air conditioning remain in vogue, but the room’s enhanced status has led to other amenities that make the porch appeal for greater use. Besides good illumination — from chandeliers to fans with lighting, and sconces, rooms are being outfitted with sound systems including Sonos units, special outdoor TVs and fireplaces, and all of today’s popular cooking paraphernalia. (Before you add a pizza oven, a highly popular choice, be sure the model sits on a noncombustible surface, that the overhead surface is also noncombustible and that the room has proper ventilation, says a source with Kalamazoo Gourmet, which manufactures several pizza oven models.)
At the end of the day, know that one of the main joys of a screened porch is something that doesn’t come from a designer’s blueprint or off a shelf, but is part of partaking in a seasonal ritual. “Come fall, when I’ve used our new porch all summer, I’ll like the idea of taking a break and retreating to other rooms,” Wilson says. And then come the next spring, the porch will beckon again. Barbara Ballinger is a freelance writer.