Here There& TAKE IT OUTSIDE

This versatile, relaxing porch-that-isn’t-a-porch brings the outdoors in—literally.

BY ROBERT KIENER

With its retractable screens, the elegant porch of this New Hampshire vacation home can be converted into an open-air, threeseason outdoor room with the push of a button. The homeowners and their guests relax on hearty resin-wicker outdoor furniture while enjoying the home’s views of Lake Winnipesaukee.

“It’s a porch, but it’s more—a lot more—than just a porch,” says architect Rob Carty with a broad smile as he describes the novel open-air space his firm, TMS Architects Interiors, designed for a vacation home overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. “It’s really an outdoor living room.”

During the home’s design phase, as his clients explained how much they loved the grounds and the views from their new lakeside lot, Carty came up with the idea of “the porch that isn’t a porch.” While his design for the three-story home, which he describes as a melding of the White Mountain camp, Adirondack, and Western timber-frame vernaculars, included generous patios and decks, Carty wanted to