Thursday, July 24, 2008

Porch ponderings

Sitting "idle" while we wait on our roof is not a good thing for me...it lets my mind and imagination run wild (and my mind and imagination have no monetary budget).

So what I was thinking was, "What if we could add a front porch back on to the house?" Taking it back to the original is next to impossible because when the house was converted into the hospital, not only did they close in the porch and put an addition on to the south side of the house, but they also removed and closed up all of the original windows in that part of the house and a fireplace was added. To renovate it back to the original would cost mucho dinero - something I don't have.

So the next best option would be to add another porch similar to the original; and what better time would there be than when, or rather IF, we ever get a new roof? I have already talked to my roofer/contractor and he said that what I wanted to do would be fairly simple and that most of the expenses would revolve around the brick and concrete work.

Since I don't have Photoshop, a simple explanation of "my plans" will have to suffice. What I am thinking of doing is extending out the pitched part of the roof only and simply mimicking all of the brick and wood work; therefore, the porch would be quite a bit smaller than the original and rather than it stretching all the way across the front of the home it would only be on the right side.

Honestly, I am having a hard time picturing it and my husband thinks I'm nuts (which is nothing unusual). I would absolutely love to have a front porch back on this house though; and I can't help but have porch envy when looking at everyone else's beautiful bungalows with their sprawling, perfectly intact porches.

5 comments:

Amalie said...

Front porch was one of my number one must-haves in the house hunt. I'm a southern girl, and I love a porch. We just found out that a big part of ours was added on, possibly in the 1950s. It's one of those magical things that I actually THANK the PO for!

So I think you should do it-- it would be enough space to have a couple of chairs or a small swing, and that's really all you need in a porch!

And btw-- your house is really lovely, before and after the porch enclosure.

Melinda said...

Thanks, Amalie. I too am a southern girl (originally from Georgia), so I love a front porch. This house just had so much character and history to it though, that I couldn't pass it up.

By the way, your porch, in particular, was one of the ones I was talking about in my post. So jealous.

Amalie said...

I agree with you on the history...I think it's nice to try to make houses more "original," but I also think part of the beauty of an old house is the life its led before you ever got it. No need to completely erase that life. I love our 1950s bathroom. Is it original or period? Nope. But it's part of the history of the house.

And with yours having been a hospital, well, that's too cool to pass up.

Ben said...

Hi Melinda,

Love your house. I think you could just extend the front gable that is over the door out and create a porch with the same kind of columns/posts as the original. I think it would not look out of place.

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Melinda said...

Thanks. That is exactly what we have been talking about doing we are just trying to wrap our brains and our wallets around the cost of such a project. We have to decide by the end of this weekend though, so we'll see.