Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1
- Thread starter Chrisplosion
- Start date
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the huge difference between American "porches" and English "porches". I see the American style on films all the time. Huge sprawling decking areas that can wrap right round the house.
The English version of a porch is a tiny addition to the front of the house which basically encloses the front door, it can't even be classed as a room it is that small.
They can be nice and quaint, see picture, but pretty much useless as a functioning part of the home.
We call such structures vestibules and my porch is L shaped,it goes a across the front and halfway down the side of our. house.
We have vestibules too....but ours are on the inside of the house!! Lol. Our vestibules are like inside porches. I think the original idea of both is too offer some protection from the weather. If you just had a front door and it was freezing outside you would get an almighty draught surging through the house every time the door's opened.
So either an inside vestibule or an outside porch, or both in some cases, help keep the house cozy.
So either an inside vestibule or an outside porch, or both in some cases, help keep the house cozy.
Oh yeah we have them on the inside too.In fact most of them in the neighborhood I grew up in were on the inside.My grandmother still has hers but most everyone else on her street has torn them out.
This is way more regional than you may suspect,
People don’t often wear coats here in the central San Joaquin, since the temperature is nearly always mild. Therefore, front vestibules are pretty much replaced by the more open foyer. I keep fish there. Our house does have a small elevated front porch, created as a niche in the front of the house, but it doesn’t have a storm door.
We have covered concrete patios in the back.
People sometimes have something in the back of the house called the mudroom, off the kitchen & connected to the laundry. This is in lieu of an actual back porch, where normally you would kick off your muddy boots etc. It’s not common this far south.
In our house, the laundry connects the house to the front garage**, right at the utility sink, so the garage serves this mudroom function.
Also, the garage, which opens electrically, serves the function of the main entry in most cases, Whether we are parking in it, or in the driveway outside.
**It is in front of the house. I do not have a “back” garage. I do have a small motorcycle shed and some dodgy awnings.
People don’t often wear coats here in the central San Joaquin, since the temperature is nearly always mild. Therefore, front vestibules are pretty much replaced by the more open foyer. I keep fish there. Our house does have a small elevated front porch, created as a niche in the front of the house, but it doesn’t have a storm door.
We have covered concrete patios in the back.
People sometimes have something in the back of the house called the mudroom, off the kitchen & connected to the laundry. This is in lieu of an actual back porch, where normally you would kick off your muddy boots etc. It’s not common this far south.
In our house, the laundry connects the house to the front garage**, right at the utility sink, so the garage serves this mudroom function.
Also, the garage, which opens electrically, serves the function of the main entry in most cases, Whether we are parking in it, or in the driveway outside.
**It is in front of the house. I do not have a “back” garage. I do have a small motorcycle shed and some dodgy awnings.
It tickles me that some members on here can actually have their tanks outside all year round. It's difficult to imagine sitting outside with a nice cool beer on a porch....with my fish tanks at the the side of me!!
If climate change gets a jog on I might be able to do it myself soon, lol.
If climate change gets a jog on I might be able to do it myself soon, lol.
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Yeah,I don't see much point in having a vestibule in your area with the mild weather and all.....at work the vestibules are referred to as sallyports,can you guess my job?
