THE
PRESERVER VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3: FALL 2005
City of New Rochelle
HISTORICAL & LANDMARKS REVIEW BOARD
Historic Newsletter Highlighting New Rochelle’s Rich Past
The Romance of THE FRONT PORCH
Melvin Beacher, A.I.A. Chairman Larry Buster John Heller Gerard Ragone Donald Richards Samuel Spady, Jr. Rosemary Speight Jean Friedman, Preservation Consultant Special thanks to Barbara Davis, Acting City Historian Funding New York State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Certified Local Government Program. Please send comments and suggestions to: Historical and Landmarks Review Board c/o Mrs. Sheila Beacher HLRB Secretary Bureau of Buildings City Hall 515 North Avenue New Rochelle, NY 10801 (914) 636-8292
Paine Heights
he porch
— just the word
evokes images of wicker chairs, porch swings, and tall glasses of cold lemonade; cool breezes on a sultry summer afternoon; lush ferns and bright flowers. The porch is a place to retreat to during a gentle summer rain or engage in lively discussions with family and friends...a place to relax with a good book or take a nap in the sun. As Kenneth T. Jackson wrote in Crabgrass Frontier, porches “were places for observing the world, for meeting friends, for talking, for knitting, for shelling peas, for courting, and for half a hundred other activities.” Porches have been called “our window on the world.” They are the transition between the confines of the house and the outdoors. “On the porch it’s possible to participate in a public sense — and the public can participate in a homeowner's private world”. (Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Architect)
Rochelle Park
Residence Park
Residence Park
Beechmont Park
Beechmont Park
The porch is often the first element of a home that visitors see. It is a reflection of the people who live there. It can be friendly and inviting, invoke a sense of fun, or present a closed and silent front to the street. “A porch is an element that contributes to building a community. When we stop sitting on our front porches, we stop interacting with our neighbors” (Pat Burt, President, University Neighborhood, Palo Alto, California) and when that happens, we put our sense of community at risk. The word “porch” is derived from the Greek word portico and the Roman word porticus, both meaning the columned entry to a classical temple. Porches pro-
liferated in American residential design from the late 1840's until World War II. With the growth of suburbia, the rise of the automobile, and the invention of air conditioning, porches fell into disfavor; people began to turn inward, focusing their activities in the backyard or in front of the television, and almost imperceptibly losing their sense of community. In the last decade, the porch has undergone a newfound popularity. In an attempt to regain the neighborliness and sense of community once found in city neighborhoods, architects and city planners have resurrected the idea of the porch. Many planned communities, such as Seaside and Disney’s Celebration, either
require or strongly suggest that all new homes have porches. Thankfully, the idea of the porch is an ideal that New Rochelle never lost. Many homes in New Rochelle’s older neighborhoods are adorned with open front porches of varying styles, sizes and shapes. These homeowners have chosen to celebrate the authenticity of their vintage houses, by retaining the significant features and openness of their front porches. Attractive porches from several New Rochelle neighborhoods are depicted in the photos shown here. Article reprinted courtesy of Lakewood (Ohio) Heritage Advisory Board, May 1998. Photographs courtesy of Gerry and Karen Ragone.