Section D·Page 12
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 21, 2000
Loungin' on the porch steps
Outdoor pastime goes way of dinosaur
By Jim O'Malley editor@kanson.com Kansan co-editor
Before there was air conditioning, there were front porches.
Front porches are common in Lawrence's older neighborhoods but are scarce in newer ones.
They developed as a way for people to cope with hot summer weather before air conditioning, said Dennis Enslinger, historic resources adviser to the City of Lawrence.
Enslinger said porches were in the front of older houses because it was cooler there.
"Kitchens were in the rear, and wood stoves were on all day," he said.
And back yards were work spaces. People hung laundry, planted vegetable gardens,' and killed and plucked chickens there, so they weren't the most pleasant places to sit and relax, he said.
Cathy Amber, assistant director of historic preservation for the Kansas State Historical Society, said people used to sleep on their porches in hot weather. Her grandfather and grandmother practically lived on their front porch during the summertime. She said she still sees a lot of porches used in Lawrence during summer.
Dennis Domer, professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky and former KU associ-
dean of architecture, said that front porches became popular about 1850. Few houses had front porches before then, but after that, there were hardly any houses built without porches until the mid-20th century.
Front porches first developed in the Caribbean islands, where the climate is hot and humid, Domer said. Cultural influences on the development of the porch included Spanish, West African, French and Caribbean island native.
Inside and outside
Health concerns also made porches popular, Domer said. In the Victorian era, people believed fresh air was important for good health. It was a common belief that it was unhealthy to breathe any air someone had breathed before. Fear of tuberculosis also made sleeping porches on the backs of houses popular from 1910 to 1925.
Victorians also believed it was important to connect to nature, and that belief was reflected in the architecture of the time. Porches were transitional spaces between indoors and outdoors. Domer said.
Earlier Colonial and Federalist-era houses tended to shut nature out.
Private and public
"In my 1839 row house, the outdoors is very much closed off," Domer said.
Front porches also had a social function. They were a transitional space between private living space and the community, Ambler said.
Front porches didn't develop in a lot of European cities, where there aren't front lawns and the living spaces of houses are above street level, she said. The ground floor is often a service area and might have a small courtyard. Without the buffer zone of a front lawn, porches aren't an effective transition between public and private.
Rules of porch etiquette developed in the United States, Ambler said. There were rules for when neighbors could go beyond stopping on the sidewalk and chatting to coming up and visiting on the porch.
Juilan Dahl, Lawrence resident reads a newspaper on his front porch and relaxes. As he does most nights, Dahl spent Tuesday evening on his porch. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Susie McCarthy and her family spend a lot of time on the front porch of their house in Old West Lawrence, the neighborhood of old houses just west of downtown between Sixth and Ninth Streets. She said she enjoyed being outside but having all the comforts of home.
"And it's a good way to watch the world go by and see what's going on in the neighborhood," McCarthy said. "You can still feel like you're part of the neighborhood. The porch was a big selling point when we bought the house."
The Decline and Fall of the Front Porch
"It's just a genuflection that helps everyone remember
Few real front porches are built today. Domer said. Many new houses have a vestigial front porch — a tiny roof over the front steps.
there's a front door, but it's hardly ever used," Domer said.
The prevalence of backyard decks and patios today reflects a very different world view than front porches, Domer said. The rise of the backyard reflects the elimination of formality and the rise of leisure and privacy. But with that comes a loss of community.
"Modern Americans have turned their backs on community and stay inside and turn on the TV." Domer said.
Harvard political scientistt Robert Putnam has described this modern disengagement from community life in his book. Bowling Alone.
"There is probably a connec-
Enslinger said privacy fences, a relatively new trend, also reflect a withdrawal from the street and from engagement with the community.
The rise of the automobile also contributed to the decline of front porches, Enslinger said. People don't want a social space on a street with a lot of automobile traffic; they want to withdraw from it. And attached garages make it possible for people to enter and leave their houses without ever stepping outside.
But he said there was a resurgence of interest in front porches and that some houses were being built with them now.
Ambler said the architecture of houses can say a lot about the people who live in them.
"When you don't have air conditioning and television," she said, "you're more outwardly focused."
Where they exist, front porches still have their special pleasures.
McCarthy said she and her family like to sit out on their porch and read.
"And it's great to listen to a thunderstorm from the front porch," she said.
Edited by Mindie Miller
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