I grew up in a big ramshackle farmhouse with a porch. Not a wrap-around porch, but a porch nevertheless. My sis and I played there a lot, with pet dogs, cats, even a squirrel that liked lemon drops.
When it rained, without lightning and thunder, we’d wrap up in blankets and watch it rain. When we were older, we gathered there with our folks to wait for time to to watch for Sputnik to arrive over Iowa.
After living in two dorms, two trailers, two apartments, and two houses, I still longed for a home with a porch. So when Guy was nearing retirement, we added onto the back of the 1957 brick one-story house. And a porch on the front!
The new porch has a railing and is much nicer than the one I grew up with, but it’s wonderful to live in a house with a porch once more. My Favorite Guy especially enjoys listening to the radio and even napping on the porch swing.
Sometime Murphy waddles over from next door to see if my Favorite Guy has something interesting to share.
Have you ever lived in a home with a front porch?
Joy! I love your front porch memories…and your very own is a beauty! We never lived in a home with that feature but it sure does call to me. 🥰❤️🥰
Thanks, Vicki!
Xo! 🥰
I always liked them, but never had one. I like the finishing framing around the windows too.
Finish framing? The way they are now?
The Old Creamery Road house at the top of your post.
Thanks for making me look more closely, GP. You’re right!
Love your porch. Good pic of Guy sitting there. I love watching lightning storms from porches
Gloria and I used to watch storms from the porch as well. I was going to say that Iowa has better thunderstorms than Colorado, but you may have grown up where there were humdingers as well. The Front Range, not so much.
Won’t argue that.
Your porch looks very inviting. I can see why your favorite guyenjoys spending lots of time there. We’ve never had that type of porch, but we spend lots of time on our deck that I built with a couple of buddies.
Thanks, Pete!
The house I grew up in had two porches. Well, one was what we called a stoop–a couple of steps up to about a 5×5 landing with a roof, hardly what I’d call a porch–and another beside the chimney and in front of the large kitchen window. We seldom played or did anything else on those “porches,” the back porch being our main entry point and where we did our pea-shelling, corn-shucking, and green bean stringing and snapping. The front porch I remember most vividly was at my maternal grandparents’ home. It wasn’t very wide, but it stretched the whole length of the house. No rails. But it did have a swing big enough for three or four kids! And it was just across the road from the railroad tracks. We’d watch trains go by and count the cars, often a hundred or more, the train being broken into two strings over the ridge in Clinton. After the locomotives had delivered the first string on this, the Knoxville side of the ridge, they ran back to get the second string from the other side of the ridge. Had a lot of good memories sitting on that front porch, especially listening to Paw Summers tell stories.
Goosebumps, Dennis. How about a blog post!
I adore front porches, Joy! I only lived in a house with a big front porch for a while and I loved it. Yours is beautiful! My husband and I are endeavoring to move back to the Midwest this year and I’m hoping to find an old house with a front porch on a leafy street . . . ☺️
Oh, I hope you do, Lori!
I absolutely love those large porches. My favorites are the wrap-around porches.
Mine as well, Alan!
We have two porches – a wrap-around screened porch in the back that we use every day and a small porch off the bedroom without a screen. We use it less because it can get buggy out there! I even put a nice working table on the porch so I can sit out there and work. Made sure the internet reaches it and I am thinking of even getting an extra monitor to keep out there.
Hurrah for porches, Scott!
First, I visualized Clinton, Iowa to Knoxville, Iowa, but couldn’t think of a steep grade anywhere. Just looked at a satellite map of Clinton, TN (south of Rocky Top and northwest of Knoxville, TN) and the way the tracks meander, that may indicate a grade heading from Knoxville to Clinton, Tennessee. Crazy what I look up with a computer in the palm of my hand !
Amazing, huh!
I never had a house with a front porch, but I sure would like one that looks like yours! 🙂
Thanks, Nancy!
You have a great front porch for sure.Murphy looks like a pal.
Thanks, John. Murph is everyone’s pal, especially if they’re eating something!
Your front porch is wonderful, so inviting! When I was growing up, we had a porch with most of the houses, great for playing. We had a huge front porch with a spring on one of our Virginia houses. The house we live in now has a three-season back porch and a little stoop with a bench in the front.
Love it!
Both of those porches are very nice. We have one, but not nearly as nice as either of those.
Thank you, Tim.
I love your memories, Joy, and your house is beautiful! I’ve always loved front porches or decks. We have a front porch, but we spend our time in the back on our patio. Any kind of outdoor living is wonderful.
Thank you, Lauren.
When I was growing up in Denver, Colorado, we had a covered patio on the back of the house that was like having an extra, large room. My sister and I spent hours playing on it throughout most of Spring, Summer and Fall. We had room to set up all of our Barbie homes, play with paper dolls, make up plays and dances. Sometimes, when my mom went to the store, she would come home with brand new coloring books and Charms suckers. We would sit out on the patio coloring at the wooden picnic table my dad had built while swishing our Charm suckers in our glasses of water to flavor it. My dad built a beautiful lattice trellis that stood at one end of the patio, and I remember it being full of purple blossoms from the thriving Clematis vines that completely covered it. My parents had both been born and raised in Texas, moving to Colorado when I was four and my sister, two. This patio, and the freedom to enjoy the lovely outdoors, was one of their favorite features of their new home state. When relatives would come from the HOT summer Texas season to visit, we would gather on the patio while my dad made home made ice cream. I had the very important job of sitting on top of the crank to hold it still, and I relished being able to listen as the adults discussed life in drawling accents. We, too, had amazing rain storms to watch every afternoon throughout the summer just as you talked about doing on your front porch. And one evening each summer, as a special treat, my mom would roll the black and white tv out on its cart and we watched a movie of the week. Then my sister and I would cuddle down in our sleeping bags and sleep out on the patio the whole night. So, although I never experienced childhood on a front porch, I cherish the memories I have that are similar to yours. Those truly were golden days.
What delightful memories, Lynne. The farm porch had some kind of lattice on the south end with vines on it. I’d forgotten about that.
Your memory of the porch is beautiful, Joy! I love the photo of you and your sister. You current house is lovely with a spacious porch. Your Guy looks so relaxed on the porch. My previous house in California has a nice porch. We had a larch front yard and several date palms that gave some privacy when I sat out there to read or just to relax. Our current house in Oregon has a small porch but we have a large backyard and patio. It’s new and I want to have a patio cover installed to make it more comfortable to spend time outside.
A patio cover would work! Thank you, Miriam.
You’re welcome, Joy.
Love a good porch! (although they are not a big thing here in Australia… sadly). Linda xx
Thank you, Linda. They aren’t big here anymore either, but we certainly enjoy ours.
I love porches! I sit out on our front porch every evening and read while the dog naps.
Dawn, I love your comment. When our “granddog” is here, she also naps on the porch.