FRONT PORCHES I HAVE KNOWN
Most of the places I’ve
lived in over the years have had welcoming front porches.
This is the brick porch of
the house I grew up in, in El Cerrito, CA in 1941.
And in 1957.
This was the first house I
lived in after my husband and I were married.
It was a lovely 3 bdrm house on the Forest Service station in Requa, CA
just north of the Klamath River. It had
stairs leading to a sort of duck & cover front porch. Not really much of a porch and we never used
it to enter the house. We came in the
kitchen door as that’s where we parked our car.
The front porch of a
rented log cabin in Gasquet, CA in December, 1968. After our first child was born, my husband,
with the permission of the owners, constructed a safe railing around it.
Four years later we were
living in a different cabin – still in Gasquet - with a large covered front
deck.
From that cabin we moved
into an old 2-room school house that had been renovated into a 5 bdrm/2 bath
home with a generous front porch. It no
longer said “Mountain Elementary School” however.
From there we moved into a
2-bdrm/1 bath bungalow with a nice-looking front porch, but we didn’t use this entry. We came in the kitchen door because, again, that’s
where we parked our cars.
We lived in the cabins,
old school house, and bungalow over a period of 7 ½ years. It seemed like we were always moving! Trouble was, Gasquet is a resort community
situated along a river. People buy
places there to retire to and rent them out till they retire. So we’d rent a place for a couple of years,
then have to find new ‘digs’ when the owners retired.
When my husband was transferred from Gasquet to Oakhurst, CA we bought this house with
stairs and another duck & cover front
porch. Owning our own home finally meant we didn’t have to move again till hubby was
transferred somewhere else and that was a nice relief. And we did use the front
door in this house.
In 1982 we moved into the
community of Pine Mountain Lake in Groveland, CA. We lived here for 28 years! Originally it had a small utilitarian front
porch. I designed this larger one and my
husband built it. It was a little tricky
as it had to skirt around stairs leading from the garage against the house up
to the front door, but it turned out just fine.
In 2010 we left Groveland
and moved to Soulsbyville, CA, and this is the front porch of the house we
bought there. When we first moved in there was
no covering over the front entry.
Instead of building one, we decided on having an awning installed which
worked out well when we decided to have awnings installed over all the front
windows.
And although they’re separated a bit from the front porch, the house does have stairs leading to it.
This is our current front
porch in Sonora, CA – just down the hill from Soulsbyville. I like that the porch is brick like the house
I grew up in It’s decorated for
Christmas in this photo, but in another month or so, my potted blue hydrangeas
will be in full bloom. J
I believe this will be our last front porch. At least I think so? Then again, y’never know.
:->
La Nightingail
You’ve lived behind lots of front porches! They sure were a unique blend of possibilities.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in my apartment, there was no porch - just a walkway going past it. But at the end of the walkway was a little covered knitch with a kind of neat view where I'd take a cup of coffee on a weekend morning, if the weather was nice, & stand there leaning against the building while sipping my coffee, looking at the view, and simply enjoying being outside.
DeletePorches are a special American feature of residential houses. My wife, who is English, had never really seen a house with a porch until she came to America as it's not a British design element of homes. Now she could not imagine living anywhere without one. This afternoon we went to an outdoor art show that you would have enjoyed. About two dozen local artists, amateurs and pros, had gone out yesterday and today painting pictures of vintage houses in our historic Asheville neighborhood. Almost every artist featured a porch since almost every house here has a grand one. (as do I) It was fun to see our 1880-1920 architecture through an artist's eye. Unfortunately no one came down my street, or I might have bought a picture of our place.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I would have enjoyed seeing those pictures of houses. For the longest time I wanted to be an architect. I loved to draw floor plans. But I came to my senses when I dated a fellow in college studying to be an architect & found out all one has to go through learning to actually be one! I still love to draw floor plans, but that's enough. :)
DeleteI emjoyed seeing your different homes, but my favoiurite photographs had to be the first two images of yoursself - as a little tiny tot and then a confident young girl.
ReplyDeleteI considered just using the the front porch photo with young me, but thought it might be fun to show the me 16 years later on the same porch. Glad you approved. :))
DeleteI love this post -- and I am amazed at how often you moved! Everywhere I lived, entry was always through the side door rather than the front, as you describe. So much easier for unloading children and groceries directly from the car. And those red awnings are stunning!
ReplyDelete