Old Colonial Porch Ideas

Basic Styles

• The colonial architecture traditions in the United States express almost as much diversity as America itself. These styles range from the austere colonialism of New England to the sprawling, florid French colonial architecture of Louisiana. Architectural trends like Gothic and Greek revivals influenced colonial architecture and, very specifically, porches, with their respective means of weight distribution. Other colonial styles include Dutch Colonial, found in New York and New Jersey, and Spanish Colonial, found in former Spanish colonies such as Florida and areas like Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, formerly parts of Mexico.

Size

• Old-style colonial porches typically exhibit a great deal of surface area. These porches extended far enough away from the home to allow room for walking and for furniture, and possess high ceilings. Generally, however, this rule applies mostly to southern colonial styles. In the colonial architecture of New England, houses rarely possessed porches -- when porches did exist, they were very small. When building or modifying an old or old-style colonial porch, always consider the weather in your area when determining size. Southern houses possess large porches because the climate in the south lends itself to outdoor socializing. The cold of New England limits outdoor possibilities, while heavy snowfall accumulating on a large enough porch or porch roof can result in collapse.

Perimeter

• Perimeter refers to the sides of the porch and methods of weight support. Greek-influenced colonial architecture, for instance, stresses the massive columns found in ancient Greek architecture. These columns necessitate porches -- otherwise, what do they support? -- and tall ones at that. They form an otherwise open perimeter around a porch. French Colonial porches often run around all floors of a building, anchored to walls and tall support columns. Upper floor porches possess banisters around the edge. Gothic-influenced colonial architecture stresses pointed arches as a means of distributing the weight of a porch roof. Generic “colonial” porches in no particular style usually possess a series of small, plain columns supporting a roof that protrudes from the side of a home, with a railing running between the columns.

Preference and Imagination

• Ideas for renovating an old colonial porch or building a new old-style porch ultimately come down to your personal preference and imagination. The proverbial melting pot of diverse cultural influences informed colonial architecture, and should also inform your choice for a porch. Remember to use wood as your primary, or only, material for an authentic feeling. To fit the architectural feel of your area, design a porch in keeping with colonial traditions in the area.