If there is one home feature that I strongly believe should be incorporated into every new home, it is a porch. Call me old-fashioned or sentimental, but to have a porch is to be a part of your neighborhood. That’s right, a neighborhood where *gasp* you might even know your neighbors names.
The porch is one of the best lifestyle components of a home, I like to think it keeps the elements out and the friendships in. To many of us, the porch brings back memories of cool spring days, sitting outside and watching the rainstorm pass by, or swinging on the porch swing with a loved one in the crisp autumn air enjoying the sound of kids playing in the newly fallen autumn leaves. It is a place of reflection, card games, first dates, naps and idle times.
But more importantly, it puts you Out There. It gives you the opportunity to talk to neighbors as they walk by, say hello to the postman, or have people over for… well… no reason at all. In this world where 8 foot hedges, fences and garage doors seal us away from our neighbors, the porch brings us out of our shell and our homes to relax and interact in a casual setting. You see someone sitting on their porch in an Adirondack chair drinking a glass of lemonade (Norman Rockwell eat your heart out), you just KNOW it is okay to say hello without fear that you are interrupting their dinner, chores, phone calls or any of the other many things that keep us inside. Being on a porch is like having a giant welcome mat affixed to one side of your house.
As I build my latest development – Humble Lane Estates, each and every house will have a porch. It may not bring back all the vestiges of Americana that we all remember as children, but if it helps put even a little of the neighbor back in “neighborhood” then I will be happy.
Q. If I find some land that I want to build a custom home on, what type of loan
