The return of the front porch's popularity

MOUNT VERNON — When Ann Booth saw the grandiose front porch on a Mount Vernon turn-of-the-century home, she wanted it. So when the house went on the market almost 40 years ago, she and her husband Guy Booth bought the home.

They've been enjoying their front porch ever since.

The Booths have raised children on that porch, hosted countless parties there and spent hours just enjoying fresh air and interactions with their neighbors.

One of the first things they bought for their house was a porch swing. The swing still hangs on one side of the 574-square foot-porch, which wraps around three sides of their home. On the opposite side is an ornate wooden dinner table. Each summer, the porch becomes both sitting room and dining room.

They only installed air conditioning a few years ago. They never felt they need to cool their home, when they could catch breezes outside on their porch on hot summer days.

'When you come out here, everything else stops,' Ann says. 'We can sit out here for hours.'

The Booth's porch will be featured on an upcoming tour of porches in Mount Vernon, part of a full day of porch-related activities hosted by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group, in partnership with the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission.

Mitch Bloomquist is chair of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group design committee. He said the organization decided to do a porch tour this year to highlight the large number of porch renovations and new porches that have been built around town in recent years.

While porches used to be standard feature on homes, people stopped adding them — and in many cases even removed existing porches from their homes — as America embraced suburbia, says Richard Thomas, professor of history emeritus at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. Today, he says, that trend is reversing and porches are seeing a resurgence in popularity.

Also a member of the Mount Vernon and Linn County Historic Preservation Commissions, Thomas has written about the history of American porches and what they might mean about our society.

Part of the reasons porches fell out of popularity was they are expensive to build and maintain, he says. But he sees a deeper meaning in the past decline and recent growth of porch popularity. When front porches went out of fashion, they were replaced with backyard patios, he says.

'The patio comes with the suburbs. You've had enough people by the time you get to the suburbs. You want a nice private place,' he says.

A front porch, however, is a chance to interact with your community.

'The more casual and friendly spirit of the porch is part of a lifestyle. People are beginning to sense that they're missing something. There is simply the need to have places to interact with people,' he says.

The front porch offers that.

'A porch says, come sit a spell. When someone's walking by, you welcome them,' he says.

He started studying porches in the 80s when he saw people tearing them off their homes. That's changed — he says the historic preservation commission has seen an ever-increasing number of people asking to see historic photos of their homes, so they can replicate porches that used to be.

'We've helped restore probably 35 or 40 porches in Mount Vernon,' he says.

Jim Engelbrecht, co-owner of Engelbrecht and Rega Construction in Mount Vernon, has helped with many of those restorations.

'In Mount Vernon, a lot of people are really proud of their porches,' he says. 'It gives a house a warm feeling. A porch is very inviting.'

His own house boasts an entire network of porches, from an open front porch to a screened side porch to a back patio for grilling.

'It's basically another living room,' he says of the extensive porch space. 'We love the fresh air all of the time.'

The return to porches isn't just restorations to older homes — it can be seen in many new housing developments, Thomas says, pointing to the Peninsula Neighborhood in Iowa City as a prime example.

'This is part of what's now become a new urbanism,' he says. 'There are all kinds of new suburbs being built with more traditional styles and more of a sense of neighborliness.'

And, of course, there's the aesthetic value.

'There's something about a large veranda that gives a house an anchor, a sense of grandeur,' Thomas says.

PORCH TOUR

• What: Ten porches in the historic Ash Park District of Mount Vernon will be featured. Interactive demonstrations, children's activities, music and art will be presented throughout the tour, with experts on hand to offer porch tips.
• When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 21; guided walking tours of the Ash Park District will be offered at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
• Cost: $10. Children 14 and under are free. 
• More information: Registration is available online at

  Visitmvl.com or in person at the Mount Vernon Visitors Center, 311 First St. NW. Wristbands will be distributed the day of the event at the Mount Vernon Visitors Center. Wristbands allow access to all porch tour events and activities. 

SIT A SPELL

• What: Dr. Richard Thomas will present at a talk, 'Come Sit a Spell: The Porch as Decoration and Living Space.' Ed Sauter, co-chair of the planning committee for the event, will present a discussion on porch design and restoration. Examples of things done right — and wrong — will be presented and porch construction will be explained from footing to roof.
• When: Thomas speaks at 1 p.m. Sauter speaks at 1:45 p.m. Sept. 21
• Where: Mount Vernon City Hall, 213 First St. NW