Kourtney Zimmerman
Southern porches are arms stretched out in welcome. They are platforms to receive, where southerly breezes perfumed with lavender and crepe myrtle dance under the cover of deep overhangs.
Porches are a place of socialization and storytelling. They can be demure or expansive, bending to flank the sides of the house and extending toward the rear. Front porches are shaded spaces for gliding rockers and grand entrance ways to even grander estates; they are structures of post and beam framing nature’s wide canvas. Back porches offer shelter from the rain, relief from the sun and, when screened, keep out the bugs. They are cozy nooks, tucked away from prying eyes or immense outdoor living rooms for cooking and entertaining. They are for gossip and stolen kisses.
A famous snapshot of Mark Twain, contemplative in a rocking chair looking out from his porch, personifies the significance that the porch holds in the hearts and minds of Southerners, where porch-sitting is more than an activity, it’s a way of life.
Today, the porch as a structural design element weds functionality and form to replicate the aesthetics of the past. Contemporary builders are using the knowledge of their ancestors to construct spaces that evoke a sense of community and charm institutionalized by Southerners over time and to formulate designs that speak to today’s need to be smart consumers and stewards of nature.
A place to mingle
While the American South can’t claim paternity for the architectural concept, the region certainly boasts a special connection. Southern architectural style began as a hybridization, a product of diverse groups of people settling the area each with a unique set of traditions. Antebellum Greek Revival homes spoke to Southern wealth and austerity while humble shotgun-style houses reflected an influx of West African and Haitian culture. Both would be naked without their porches. Prior to air conditioning, the porch was more than a nicety—it was a necessity. It served as a gathering point for friends and family beyond the confines of the walls, but still connected to the home.
[Read this: A Woodville house with a history.]
The variety of architectural styles in the South, including Greek Revival where porches are supported by columns, Acadian-style with wide front porches that often wrap around, and raised houses, leaves room for creativity in structural details and materials.
Kayne LaGraize builds what he calls a “Neo-Acadian” or “French Farmhouse” style with an emphasis on the porch, a design investment that he said doesn’t translate equally on the appraiser’s sheet. But, he said, “the porch is what gets people to sign the contract.”
LaGraize Builders serves the Arabi neighborhood of St. Bernard Parish adjacent to New Orleans, where architectural elements date from the 1880s through the 1920s. Designs mix old with new, keeping the neighborhood’s historic look and maintaining curb appeal. Reclaimed and repurposed materials meld with modern elements, such as standing seam metal roofs that deflect the sun’s rays and keep the heat away from air conditioned spaces.
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“Porches on residential homes give you a feeling of being private, it makes you feel like you have some real property,” said LaGraize, adding that an eight-foot wraparound porch gives the buyer nearly seven hundred square feet of additional living space.
He looks at existing landscaping and trees to help position his builds. With one recent construction on Alexander Street in Arabi, “a north-facing porch with tall windows lets the person bring the outside inside and the inside out. The roof insulates the house and keeps the living area shaded so that they don’t have to shut the blinds against the daylight,” said LaGraize.
Reclaiming the past
The famous “wood eternal,” the bald cypress, stands as a totem for traditional Southern design. Louisiana’s state tree, revered for its sturdiness and resistance to rot, is considered to be among the more environmentally-conscious wood options for both new construction and existing home renovations.
[Read this: A spared old-growth cypress forest in Southeast Louisiana.]
“Designing your home with your environment in mind is one of the most sustainable things you can do,” said Richard Woods, CEO of Albany Woodworks.
Kourtney Zimmerman
Woods and his wife Judith opened Albany Woodworks with the guidance of friend and mentor John Batson, “Mr. B,” who passed away earlier this year. “I followed a vision of reclaiming the antique lumber of days past,” said Woods. “We are history and environment lovers at heart ... it is our business to preserve the future by conserving our past. There wasn’t even the term sustainability when we started our business.”
Ask any craftsman and they will tell you that old-growth wood is the best for sturdy building. Sadly, nature’s giants that once danced with the stars have long since been harvested,. Demand for lumber during the Industrial Revolution all but stripped the woods of the American South, where the centenarian giants of cypress and pine grew in virgin forest, untouched by humans.
They’ve been replaced by new-growth trees that, without the natural competition of the forest, can reach maturity in 10-20 years but lack the fine grain established by hundreds of years of slow growth.
[You might like: Conference on the Front Porch welcomes architects, planners, historians, and lovers of "all things porch."]
“Historic warehouse districts comprised of turn-of-the-century heart pine and cypress are now being demolished to make way for high-density occupancy dwellings and commerce,” said Woods. “We were the first in the United States to commercially take timbers from demolition—two-hundred-year-old timbers—to remanufacture into finished goods for any type of house,” said Woods.
Paint it blue
When it comes to traditional Southern porch designs, must-haves include wood railings, cypress shutters, and a special exterior door befitting the space.
Architect Lionel Bailey incorporates shutters in his designs where the client is looking for that Southern charm. “Operable shutters that can shade the sun but also allow breezes through, as well as drop down screens that shade the sun and that allow cooler air from the inside to linger into the spaces when doors are opened,” he said.
Bailey looks for treated pine, antique salvaged woods and composite materials for decking, columns, balustrades, and beams. “A Southern porch is about orientation to the sun and prevailing winds. Along with the right materials and proportions, it needs to be outfitted with comfortable furnishings that make it like the outdoor room that it is,” he said.
[Check out: LSU Rural Life Museum acquires a West Feliciana home that subverts Southern stereotypes.]
Andi Eaton, founder and editor of Oui We and author of New Orleans Style and Wanderful: The Modern Bohemian’s Guide to Traveling in Style, her latest, shared about her space.
“At my house we spend a ton of time on our front porch. We have our morning coffee, read the Sunday paper, grill out, and entertain friends all on our porch. One of the ways I make it feel like an extension of both our yard and the interior of our home is with plants. I personally love the look of the extra-large terra cotta planters, coupled with macramé hanging planters too. The larger ones also provide a little extra privacy,” said Eaton.
“Paint your porch ceiling blue,” she added. “It’s one of the first projects I undertook when we moved into our new home.” The history and lore of the palate of porch ceiling blues called “haint blue” is varied and filled with ghosts. “It’s often considered a superstition ... the color is supposed to ward off evil spirits,” said Eaton. But it serves more earthly purposes too: “I find it also keeps the wasps from nesting and mosquitos from hanging around too long. It’s pretty and practical!”
Nobody knows for sure what waits for the dead, or if and when spirits might be chained to this world, but if you ask Ray Bradbury, “Heaven is a house with porch lights.” So turn yours on. LED, of course.
Bring the Outside In: A DIY from Andi Eaton
“Repurpose an old bookshelf into a porch plant shelf. For mine, I found an old six shelf bookcase at a thrift shop, painted it with high gloss white and then lined the interior with a tropical plant inspired wallpaper. I loaded up on small ceramic planters and filled in every shelf with a blend of herbs, florals, and smaller, purposeful plants like aloe. The bottom shelf has baskets for all of my gardening tools, so it’s useful and looks lovely at the same time.”
