A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a
vestibule
Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin ''vestibulum, -i n.'' "entrance court".
Anatomy
In general, vestibule is a small space or cavity ...
, or a projecting building that houses the entrance door of a building.
Porches exist in both
religious and secular architecture. There are various styles of porches, many of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location. Porches allow for sufficient space for a person to comfortably pause before entering or after exiting a building, or to relax on. Many porches are open on the outward side with
balustrade supported by balusters that usually encircles the entire porch except where stairs are found.
The word "porch" is almost exclusively used for a structure that is outside the main walls of a building or house. Porches can exist under the same roof line as the rest of the building, or as towers and turrets that are supported by simple porch posts or ornate
colonnades and arches. Examples of porches include those found in
Queen Anne style architecture
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the ...
,
Victorian style houses,
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, or any of the
American Colonial
American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. T ...
style buildings and homes.
Some porches are small and cover only the entrance area of a building. Other porches are larger, sometimes extending beyond an entrance by wrapping around the sides of a building, or even wrapping around completely to surround an entire building. A porch can be part of the ground floor or an upper floor, a design used in the
Mrs. Lydia Johnson House (built in 1895).
Ancient examples
The
Apadana palace of the city of
Persepolis was built in the first half of the 6th century BCE. The palace has open columned verandas on three sides which is a unique feature among all palace buildings at Persepolis. In
Ancient Greek architecture, the
peristyle was a continuous porch with a row of columns around the outside of building or a courtyard.
Types
Arizona room
An Arizona room is a type of screened porch commonly found in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
.
Screened porch
A screened porch, also called a screened-in-porch, is a porch that was built or altered to be enclosed with screens that effectively creates an outdoor type room.
Sleeping porch
A sleeping porch is a porch that was built or modified to be a type of semi-outdoor sleeping area. A sleeping porch can be an ordinary open porch, screened or with screened windows that can be opened.
Rain porch
A rain porch is a type of porch with the roof and columns extended past the deck and reaching the ground. The roof may extend several feet past the porch creating a covered patio. A rain porch, also referred to as a Carolina porch, is usually found in the
Southeastern United States.
Portico
A Portico (
Italian) is a porch style that utilizes columns or colonnades, and even arches, such as used in
Italian modern and contemporary architecture.
Loggia
A Loggia is a covered exterior corridor or porch that is part of the ground floor or can be elevated on another level. The roof is supported by columns or arches and the outer side is open to the elements.
Veranda
A Veranda (also spelled 'verandah') style porch is usually large and may encompass the entire
facade as well as the sides of a structure. An extreme example is the
Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, which has the longest porch in the world at in length.
Lanai
A Lanai is a roofed, open-sided veranda, patio or porch originating in Hawaii.
Sun porch
A sun porch, or sun room, also referred to as a ''Florida room'', can be any room or separate structure, usually enclosed with glass, but can be an enclosed porch.
Stoop
A stoop is a landing, usually small, at the top of stairs and when covered by a roof is a small porch.
North America
In northeastern North America, a porch is a small area, usually unenclosed, at the main-floor height and used as a sitting area or for the removal of working clothes so as not to get the home's interior dirty, when the entrance door is accessed via the porch. In the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
, ranch-style homes often use a porch to provide shade for the entrance and southern wall of the residence.
In the
Southern United States and
Southern Ontario,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, a porch is often at least as broad as it is deep, and it may provide sufficient space for residents to entertain guests or gather on special occasions. Adobe-style homes in
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
, often include large porches for entertainment called "
portals", which are not usually seen in the more traditional
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
homes.
Older American homes, particularly those built during the era of
Victorian architecture, or built in the
Queen Anne style, often include a porch in both the front and the back of the home. The back porch is used as another sitting space. However, many American homes built with a porch since the 1940s have only a token one, usually too small for comfortable social use and adding only to the visual impression of the building.
The
New Urbanism movement in architecture urges a reversal in this trend, recommending a large front porch, to help build community ties.
When spacious enough, a covered porch not only provides protection from sun or rain but comprises, in effect, extra living space for the home during pleasant weather—accommodating chairs or benches, tables, plants, and traditional porch furnishings such as a
porch swing,
rocking chairs, or
ceiling fans.
Porches may be screened to exclude flying insects. Normally, the porch is architecturally unified with the rest of the house, using similar design elements. It may be integrated into the roof line or upper storey.
Many porch railings are designed with importance to the design of the building as well as
curb appeal but local, state, or federal zoning laws usually mandate the height of the railing and spacing of balusters. There are exemptions for houses in
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
s or that are on the
National Register of Historic Places. The
National Park Service produced a pamphlet or brief concerning ''Preserving Historic Wood Porches''.
''Preserving Historic Wood Porches''
Retrieved 2017-08-31
Britain
In Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, the projecting porch had come into common use in churches by early medieval times. They were usually built of stone but occasionally were of timber. Normally they were placed on the south side of the church, but also on the west and north sides, sometimes in multiple. The porches served to give cover to worshipers, but they also had a liturgical use. At a baptism, the priest would receive the sponsors, with the infant, in the porch and the service began there.
In later medieval times, the porch sometimes had two storeys, with a room above the entrance which was used as a local school, meeting room, storeroom, or even armoury. If the village or town possessed a collection of books, it would be housed there.
Sometimes the church custodian lived in the upper storey and a window into the church would allow supervision of the main church interior. Some British churches have highly ornamented porches, both externally and internally. The south porch at Northleach, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, in the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
, built in 1480, is a well-known example, and there are several others in East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
and elsewhere in the UK.
India
In India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, porches and verandahs are popular elements of secular and religious architecture. In Hindu temples, the mandapa
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture.
Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...
is a porch-like structure that connects the gopuram (ornate gateway) to the temple. It is used for religious dancing and music, and is a part of the basic temple compound.
Examples of Indian buildings with porches include:
* Kailash Temple
* Cooch Behar Palace
* Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves are approximately thirty rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures d ...
* Chennakesava Temple at Somanathapura
The Chennakesava Temple, also referred to as Chennakeshava Temple and Keshava Temple, is a Vaishnava Hindu temple on the banks of River Kaveri at Somanathapura, Karnataka, India. The temple was consecrated in 1258 CE by Somanatha Dandanayak ...
* Hoysaleswara Temple
* Dholpur House
Dholpur House is the former residence of the Rana of Dholpur in Delhi. It is located next to India Gate on Shahjahan Road.
It was constructed in the 1920s in the Art Deco style. The walls on the exterior are painted in white.
Today the Unio ...
The term ''sit-out'' is used to describe the porch of a residential building.
File:Tripurantakesvara Temple at Balligavi.jpg, Ancient temple porch to a mandapa
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture.
Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
File:Aurangabad - Ajanta Caves (57).JPG, The porch to the entrance to Cave Two, Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves are approximately thirty rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures d ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
See also
* Balcony
* Church porch
* Deck
* Engawa
An or is an edging strip of non- tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo. The may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they resemble a porch or sunroom.
Usually, the is outside ...
* Iwan
* Patio
* Porte-cochère
* Porch sitting
References
*
*
*
External links
{{Authority control
Architectural elements