The porch

W

ith its numerous associations, the porch awakens something deep in American consciousness. It is a reminder of America’s past. Its appearance conincided with the founding of the nation.

Our porch

The porch is a populist symbol par excellence. Time has made of it a symbol for the individual’s ties to the family and by extension, to the nation as an enlargement of the family. The porch is where friends meet to share a few quiet words, a place of reflection where old folk sit and watch the world go by, where teenagers take their first hesitant steps in romantic love, where grief spends itself, and hope blossoms. The American porch is a bridge to the universe.

—Philip Drew, Veranda: Embracing Place