Entry Introductions

Archeologists might someday attribute the decline of a once-great civilization to the overabundance of typical suburban builder homes - featuring peculiar two story grand entryways, that were never used.
Of course this is a joke, but there is certainly no shortage of pasted-on two-story entry facades in our culture, stemming from the discovery of this cheap eye-catcher sometime in the seventies. Providing neither shelter or shade, they have no historical counterpart short of Hadrian's villa, but perhaps fill the need for an icon denoting "front door." We have lost sight of other more gracious ways to enter a home.
We abandoned our love for the front porch as we embraced the automobile and air conditioning. The front garden disappeared when Mom went to work, leaving no real use for picket fences or garden gates. Nonetheless these can be interesting and engaging visual features on the front of a home to distinguish the entrance and provide a nostalgic and endearing welcome. Landscaping should project toward the street, not just hide the bottom of the house.
Today most folks enter into houses through the garage or some back door, which is fine, but not delightful. Builders often fail to provide a useful walkway or anywhere to park at the front of the house, so visitors pull up to the garage doors for their first impression. This is a common problem and providing a small turnaround or pull-off space for cars at the front yard can often solve it. Adding an inviting walkway, gates, lamp-posts, arbors, trellises etc. goes a long way toward giving the home personality. Even if it's only for the trick-or-treaters and the UPS man, the proper entry introduction can make a huge statement in an ordinary subdivision.



This article was originally printed in "Remodeling" magazine published by Hanley Wood - October, 2006