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The front porch of a cabin in Washington state.

Up & Down the River

Pretty much every house has at least one. Some have more than one. If you don’t have one, I feel bad for you. Today’s subject is: the porch.

Did you know that the concept of a porch has been around architecturally since the 6th century BC? There was one on the Apandana palace in the ancient city of Persepolis. You’ll find the same thing on many buildings in ancient Greece. Porches exist at the front of many of the beautiful cathedrals in Europe, where their function is to give one space to pause comfortably before entering or exiting the building. 

The word “porch” comes from the Old French porche, the Latin porticus meaning “colonnade,” and porta meaning “passage.” You may know other words that mean the same as porch, like veranda, lanai, stoop, loggia, or sun porch or sleeping porch. Each of them varies a bit in size and function, but essentially they are all porches.

Time was when most homes had a generously sized front porch with perhaps room for a swing and several chairs. It was a place for gathering in the afternoon or evening while the kids played outside. Neighbors could drop by and be invited up for a “sit.” They were convivial.

Then, suburbia happened and the porch moved around to the back of the house. Instead of socializing, we “nested” or “cocooned” in our own spaces. The back porch became a deck, sometimes multileveled, an outdoor living room as well as a kitchen. And the neighboring slowed to a crawl.  

If the recent pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we humans are essentially social creatures. And left to our own devices (I used that word on purpose), we suffer. Perhaps one of the antidotes to that suffering is more time on the front porch or in the front yard.

I’m not saying we have to sit out there every night, because the weather here isn’t always conducive to that. Neither are the mosquitoes. And I’m certainly not saying we need to abandon our back porch/deck areas that many people put a lot of sweat equity into over the last two years. There’s a time and place for everything, and I’m just suggesting that we might want to consider the front porch or the front yard.

Who knows? You may discover that you like that area of your yard or house. Maybe a bit more landscaping, or stone paving would enhance the area (and make less yard to mow). And the sound of that old front porch swing, creaking away as you or a neighbor rock back and forth might be a bit soothing in this fast-paced world of ours. A basket to hold everyone’s switched-to-silent phones wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Tracy Lawrence wrote a song called “If the World Had a Front Porch.” It wouldn’t cure all our ills, but it might be step in the right direction.