SPOTLIGHT
So, when we moved into the house in 2001, we began a three-year remodeling saga: kitchen, bathrooms, windows, HVAC; you name it, it had to be done. As we got the serious remodeling work behind us and made progress with a new brick-walled garden, we decided that it was time to build our long-awaited back porch—the fun stuff.
The Design Concept We decided to make the porch a bit whimsical with hints of “garden folly,” which are architecturally sympathetic to the house and yet serve the purpose of providing a space to relax and view our brick-walled garden. To reduce maintenance and enhance my architectural vision, we agreed that it was necessary to use high-quality materials throughout, including red wood columns by Chatsworth, a custom-made cedar wood louver panel to control sun exposure, copper roofing, and powder-coated aluminum and tempered glass railings. An existing elevated 12’ x 16’ stone terrace with steps that had been added in the 1967 remodel had a brick foundation that made financial sense to keep. Te elevated terrace, perfect as a garden viewing perch, received new 2” thick flagstone for the new porch floor. It was a practical beginning for a bit of architectural indulgence.
The Plan As with many aspects of life, what seemed simple at the start got complicated as the design’s floor plan emerged on paper. For example, the kitchen’s triple- casement window provided a wonderful garden view from the kitchen but overlapped the existing terrace, making it impossible to place a column or pilaster at the corner where the porch met the house. And, being a casement window, it had to swing-out for ventilation, requiring any column to be placed precisely to provide space for the casement window to open. Aſter many atempts to come up with a solution, I decided not to solve this problem in a traditional way (with four columns, one at each corner), but concluded that eight was the number of columns needed.
Placing the columns 24” from the rear wall of the house allowed clearance for the casement window to open and created a natural and unclutered appearance. Te columns were grouped in pairs to frame views at the north and south. A column was
12 create | A REMODELING RESOURCE FROM NARI METRO DC
placed at each outer corner and a final pair of columns at the east elevation to frame the garden view. Each pair of columns frames the view and embraces railings at two locations. At the south elevation the pair of columns frames a louvered wall panel (to control sun exposure and provide privacy).
An existing seven-riser set of brick stairs allows guest to walk directly into the garden from the porch.
The Elevations I decided that a porch for the back of our house should be an addition to love, and the classic temple-like form worked well for this addition. Doric columns, which are round with appealing entases (slight convex curve in the columns’ shaſts to correct the visual illusion of concavity produced by a straight shaſt) , were a must. Te hammered metal railings with tempered glass do not impede garden views. A classic entablature capped with crown molding provides an elegant elevation. Success is shown with a limited number of architectural components working together to mark a special place called the porch.
The Ceiling A good porch has a high ceiling that allows hot air to rise and a breeze to stir. A pair of Casablanca ceiling fans increases the air flow, too. And, keeping the nine- foot ceiling height proportionate to the old house made sense. Framing the ceiling is a classic beam detail that sits on the columns and wraps four sides of the porch.
Te porch’s location could easily have blocked the sunlight from the dining room, so a custom skylight by Renaissance Conservatories was installed to admit light. To accentuate the skylight’s sunlight penetration, the ceiling design tapers up on four sides of the skylight, in a hopper-like shape, that minimizes the skylight’s depth well and adds aesthetic interest.
A ceiling is not a traditional porch ceiling without wood bead board, which accommodates the unob- trusive recessed lighting. We chose to paint the porch ceiling a classic white instead of the traditional robin’s egg blue because we liked the cleanness of the white and blue seemed a bit too serious for our porch.
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