A Country House Needs a Porch

A country house without a porch is like a man without an eyebrow; it gives expression, and gives expression where you most want it. The least office of a porch is that of affording protection against the rain-beat and sun-beat. It is an interpreter of character; it humanizes bald walls and windows; it emphasizes architectural tone; it gives hint of hospitality; it is a hand stretched out (figuratively and lumberingly, often) from the world within to the world without.

Donald C. Mitchell, Rural Studies, 1867

Verandas are most desirable on the south and west sides of a house, for while they ward off the mid-day heat of summer, they still freely admit the low down winter sun.

E.H.Leland, Farm Houses, 1882

The veranda is perhaps the most specially American feature in a country house; nothing can compensate for its absence, and endless opportunities for variety in design occur in treating this part of a country house.

Calvert Vaux, Villas & Cottages, 1867