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I live in a historic neighborhood where most of the homes have large porches. We use ours all the time as do most of our neighbors. In Colorado the climate is great for sitting outside and bugs usually are not a problem.
This brings back sweet memories of my grandparents' front porches.
My Arkansas grandparents had a white frame bungalow with a shaded screened porch across the front. The porch swing was the most memorable and probably the most used feature: when grandchildren and great grandchildren were not trying to swing high enough to bail out or to kick the beadboard ceiling, my grandfather would sit there with Tom, his old orange and white cat, and slowly swing while reading his Bible.
The grandchildren also enjoyed building tall towers of dominos - a large sized set with colored dots - and knocking them down onto the cool concrete floor. It stayed cool on even the hottest August days, it seemed...
Friends would drop by on Sunday afternoons and the front porch was used for visits rather than the living room, most of the time.
At the other end of the porch was a set of wicker furniture plus a rollaway bed that was generally used as a day bed, upon which grandchildren would occasionally sleep on hot nights (it was beneath a window which opened into the front bedroom, where mothers or aunts would sleep, so was quite safe).
And it served as an escape from the house on rainy days, when the grandchildren couldn't climb trees, play ball, or enjoy the bag swing suspended from the tallest tree in the side yard.
Our grandmother used a wheelchair, but she could roll out and enjoy fresh air from the porch, then roll carefully down the ramp into the front yard and go around the house to see my grandfather's beautiful flowers in the side yard.
Fortunately, one of my aunts was a good amateur photographer, so I have many pictures from those long-ago days. The house is still there, but has been poorly "remuddled" and the wonderful screened porch has been enclosed. While no doubt that provides more enclosed rooms for the current residents, there is no way it could provide more joy.
My other grandmother's house was a large, well-ventilated but un-air-conditioned, green-shuttered, white frame Queen Anne Victorian, with a green-striped-awninged but open porch filled with nine green-painted wooden rockers across 2/3 of the front. Instead of a porch swing, there was a glider at the end of the porch which overlooked the side yard. The house was located on the Main Street of a small Southern town, less than a block from shopping.
It was customary for our grandmother, who was a widow, and our great aunt who lived with her to sit on the porch after supper each summer evening, and friends or family would usually drop by to visit. We'd sip iced tea or Coca-Colas (seldom called "Cokes" back then), or enjoy fresh peach ice cream brought by a friend who had a local orchard and small ice cream factory- best I ever tasted. Friends driving by would honk and wave, and we'd wave in return.
My great aunt would always comment on "that sweet breeze that comes up every evening about this time" - the porch faced west, so that cool breeze was welcome.
The porch was mostly used by playing (or in my case, reading on the glider - the house included a large number of old children's books which first belonged to my father and his siblings) grandchildren during the heat of the day. But occasionally my great aunt and mother would sit there in their aprons to snap beans into large enamel dish pans and escape the kitchen's heat. My grandmother and great aunt had a cook, but unlike my grandmother, my great aunt was "domestic" and an excellent cook herself, noted for her watermelon pickles, preserves, and other specialties.
In the winter, the green-painted rockers were turned face down, rockers up, to protect them from the elements, and the porch awning was furled to keep snow from damaging it. But each spring, the rockers were righted and the awning released. Red geraniums were planted in the urns on each side of the wide stone porch steps, doors and windows were opened for that sweet pine-scented evening breeze, the floor was swept and occasionally repainted battleship gray (the ceiling was light blue, of course, standard for Southern porches), the rockers were dusted and the cover removed from the glider, and the porch was ready for another summer of playing and rocking and visiting with family and friends.
With Coca-Colas, iced tea, and occasionally fresh peach ice cream to add to the experience.
Now those are just more sweet memories, as the house and many of those who sat on that front porch are now gone...
But I can still taste that wonderful ice cream and hear those voices.
One of those green rockers now sits on my own small front porch, and I do make use of it from time to time. My cousins have the other rockers - there were enough to go around and they are all cherished.
About half of the houses on my street have front porches, some of which see a lot more use than do others.
Last edited by CraigCreek; 08-24-2018 at 08:46 AM..
These houses don't actually have porches, but yes, my neighbor across the street sits outside her front door whenever it isn't too hot or too cold. I actually haven't seen her much these past couple of months because it's been close to a hundred, when it's not actually over 100, every day for the past couple of months, up until just the day before yesterday. The heat wave seems to be over and its just high 80s now and I'm seeing her sitting there on her swing again.
I just looked through some real estate listings, and noticed so many new houses still have them. I guess they're mostly decorative now, but wouldn't it be great if people went back to using them again? So many people complain about neighborhoods seeming "sterile" these days. If you really want to get rid of that sterile feeling, nothing adds personality like having a few people on a porch. It makes a street feel friedlier, and also safer (nobody is going to steal packages if they see your neighbors are around).
I wish we had a front porch. I'd be out on it all the time. Unfortunately I haven't lived in a house with a front porch big enough for a chair since I was 12. But one of my favorite memories was when my friend and his wife lived in a house built in the 1890s with a huge porch. They had a futon out on it and we'd get together with other people and sit on the futon and steps of the porch. I don't need a futon but I'd love to have a porch that I could sit out on and watch people go by.
The thread about the guy who got disturbed by seeing a neighbor regularly standing on his front porch has started a chain of questions in my head.
I was surprised because where I live, it's still a common thing to see people out standing or sitting on a front porch. That's why people build them. But, having said that, we deliberately chose a community where most of the people are retirees. We do a lot of neighborly things here that people no longer seem to do (that's one reason I love it). Maybe we are the last of a generation who stands or sits out on a front porch, too.
So here are some of the things I started wondering: what's it like where you live? Do people still stand or sit on a porch? How about balconies? I can remember when having a balcony for your condo was considered essential--people wouldn't rent a place without one. Is that still the case?
If people DO use the front porch, are they always engaged in an activity? Or is it still ok to just stand there, drinking a cup of coffee and watching the world go by?
If people DON'T use the front porch, do they still put out furniture? Why?
Do you think we will ever return to a time when people routinely sat out on a porch during the evening? Why or why not? Would the world be a better place if you saw more of your neighbors (or, do you think the world is a better place with people inside minding their own business?)
If people are no longer using front porches, will houses continue to be built with them?
The homes I've owned did not have a front porch; however, I've rented older two-families with a porch. Yes, I put out furniture. When the weather is nice, I like to sit out on the porch and read and/or enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning or glass of wine in the afternoon. I'll wave and nod at the nieghbors and passersby, and sometimes someone will strike up a conversation. I LOVE a front porch. If I were standing on my porch every time my neighbor was mowing, it would because I think he's a hotty!
That's another thing that makes me wonder. Why put chairs and a table on there if nobody is every going to sit in them?
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