NashvilleDecember 30, 2015

Nashville

Susan Roethemeyer

susansmr@juno.com

The Front Porch

These days a nice front porch does not seem to be on a buyer’s must – have list. But personally, I think they should be.

Front porches, whether big, small, or medium, are a nice extension to the living room. They invite neighborliness. They get the homeowner and the visitor out in the fresh air without the pressure of having to straighten up the house. And they are good places to just sit and relax and talk.

Plus, the front porch gets the homeowner out in the fresh air without demanding that he or she do any outdoor work!

Porches come in many sizes and configurations.

It can be a concrete stoop with a bare roof overhead (although I don’t consider those to be true porches), or it can be as large as a three-sided wrap-around.

They can be as simple as a wood platform, or as ornate as a concrete floor inlaid with a tile pattern and a drive-under roof (known as a portico).

Some have simple posts for supporting the roof, and some are dripping with fancy woodwork known as “gingerbread.”

I grew up with a medium sized porch.

It had two steps up to the wooden floor, had large square pillars supporting the roof, and half pillars faced each other on either side of the steps.

The half pillars and the bottom half of the corner pillars had dark red shingles attached to simulate brick. Surrounding the porch was a sturdy railing.

We played on, around, and beside it.

We visited with people on it and sat and relaxed on it. It was a nice little porch.

Front porches are wonderful places to go visiting, wait for Halloween candy, play with your friends, or just sit and relax with a book.

As my Uncle used to say: “You can tell the older houses because they have porches. Before TV, people didn’t have anything else to do but sit on their porches and watch the people go by. That was their entertainment.”