Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Front Porches

[Collaborative Housing Society (cohosoc]

I just want to point out that, in spite of strong cultural mythology to the
contrary (see "It's a wonderful life" or any "Andy Hardy" film), front
porches tended only to arise where climate made them appropriate - eg. the
mid and deep south, where porches, verandahs, etc. shade the house, help
ventilation and provide a place for some outdoor living.

In the cold, damp North, we (still) tend to build Georgian, cape-cod,
brownstones, etc, none of which feature provision for porches - maybe a
covered portico for taking off snowy boots and coats.  Porches did seem to
be widely appreciated on many rural homes, probably for the same reasons
they got built in the south - a place to sit/sleep to cool off in the hot
summer months.  The height of porch building for the sake of porches alone
was at the very turn of this century, when the Victorian style
(shingle/stick/romantic, etc) demanded convoluted articulation - lots of bay
windows, turrets, gingerbread, and, yes, porches.  The effect was often
wonderful, but I would propose that the benefits *we* ascribe to porches
were a side effect, not the main intent.

While I too recognize the immense potential for neighbour building that
front porches offer, I just wanted to point out that rather than blame those
nasty developers and architects, we should perhaps blame "ourselves", or at
least our culture, as one that has always prefered the ideal of detached
housing, lord of the manor, and all that.  For many people out there, the
porch is becoming desirable again, but from what I've seen of its
reappearence, it is more a cartoon of porch - more in keeping with the
romantic nostalgia for the good old days more than as an expression of
desire to meet the neighbours.  On the other hand, with a front porch,
imagine what might happen, as people start actually seeing the others they
share their streets with. . .

Of course, none of this applies to us cohousing types, who see the porch as
a social instrument, and like it like that.  I offer this mostly as a way of
reminding us that we have to get beyond truisms like "developers took away
our porches" (I don't think anyone here actually said that, but I have heard
it many times in my travels) if we want to see ourselves and our culture for
what it really is, so we know what exactly it is we are trying to fix.

Russell Mawby
Collaborative Housing Society
cohosoc [at] web.apc.org