Ode To The Front Porch

Welcome to my sittin' on porch as my friend and "acquaintance-in-law" Ted Large calls it.  In fact Ted is the one who inspired this post paying tribute to the front porch.  He told me that a study revealed that one of the reasons people don't know their neighbors anymore is because of the dissapearance of the front porch.  We are blessed to have a wonderful covered front porch that we use almost everyday! 

I was inspired to do a little research on front porches and found some interesting information.  One of the thoughts regarding the dissapearance of front porches was due to the invention of the automobile.  The fumes and exhaust from this new fangled invention made it uncomfortable to sit out on the front porch so people moved indoors or hopped in their cars and took a drive.  With this new situation home designs began to eliminate the front porch because no one used them. 

"Nobody thought much about the front porch when most Americans had them and used them. The great American front porch was just there, open and sociable, an unassigned part of the house that belonged to everyone and no one, a place for family and friends to pass the time."

--Rochlin, The Front Porch, in Home, Sweet Home

Click here if you would like to read the entire article "The Evolution Of The American Front Porch"  This is where I got my information for this blog post.  I want to make sure I give the proper credit. The text in red has been copied and pasted directly from the previously referenced article.

The Cultural Significance of the American Front Porch

The most striking cultural significance of the front porch is its connection to nature and the land surrounding it. Throughout the history of our nation, Americans have idealized nature and land. The first writers of our country, such as Crevecour and Jefferson, praised the young agrarian nation, whose natural conditions provided for a better life. 

In many ways, the front porch represented the American ideal of family. The porch, in essence, was an outdoor living room, where the family could retire after the activities of a long day. In the evenings, as the outdoor air provided a cool alternative to the stuffy indoor temperatures, the entire family would move to the front porch. 

 What the family room or t.v. room of post World War II America would become, existed first as the front porch. 

The Decline of the American Front Porch

In the period immediately before and after World War II, the American front porch became a relic of the past, an architectural feature and cultural symbol no longer important to Americans.

The primary technological change that spurred this developing abandonment of the front porch was the proliferation of the American automobile.  As a result, "the front porch was no longer an idyllic setting where one could relax and commune with nature," for the "exhaust fumes and the noise of a steady stream of cars and trucks had rendered it inhospitable and unhealthy"(Kahn 5). The automobile further created a new enclave and setting of towns and cities: suburbia. Automobiles allowed for Americans to move further distances from their workplace to build homes on less expensive property. The "automobile-dependent suburbs"(Kahn 5) did not feature front porches, due to the omnipresence of the automobile. Thus, as technology had helped to develop the front porch, by the mid twentieth century it was leading to its decline.

The new technological development of air conditioning further aided in the decline of the front porch. Providing a cool environment indoors, the front porch was no longer needed as a cool shaded area during the day or as a place to enjoy the cool night air. Families remained indoors comfortably, and a primary use of the front porch was no longer needed. 

Seaside: The Recurrence of the American Front Porch

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Only in current times has the cultural significance of the front porch been realized. This project is clearly a project of such forces, which romanticize a culture and a time in the American experience which the front porch symbolizes. As another result of such forces, the front porch has briefly and minorly reappeared in American architecture.
The best example of the reappearance of the American front porch and its implications may be seen in the town of Seaside, Florida. Seaside, a planned community built in the 1980's, aimed to rebuild a town on the principles of "urban traditions" which would exist in a "garden-variety small town"(Seaside 48). In this goal, the designers and architects developed an extensive building code to create such an existence as imagined. In this code, buildings were required to have porches. Evidently, attempting to rebuild a town on romantic terms, the front porch was a key element, revealing again its cultural significance. In recent times, other developed communities have required and continue to emphasize the front porch.
Thus it may be seen that the front porch existed as and continues to exist as an important cultural object in America. Through an exploration of the evolution of the front porch, the evolution of American culture has been witnessed. This project has revealed the cultural ideals that made the front porch important, and the cultural changes that eliminated it. The future of the American front porch remains uncertain, yet in a time when American values are being reevaluated and attempts are being made to rework them, the front porch as an important and existing cultural object may resuface again.

I hope you have enjoyed this little ode to the front porch and the next time you find yourself in my neighborhood, be sure to stop by and "sit a spell"

Cathie