Porch

A porch is an architectural feature relating to a floor-like platform structure attached to the front or back entrance of a residence. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure. The porch serves as a place to pause comfortably before entering or exiting.

The porch, especially in the southern United States, is often as broad as it is deep, and may provide sufficient space for residents to entertain guests or gather on special occasions. However, many American homes built since the 1940s with a porch only have a token one, too small for comfortable social use and adding only to the visual impression of the building; however the recent New Urbanism movement in architecture recommends a large porch facing the street, to help build community ties.

When covered, it not only provides protection from sun or rain but may also form, in effect, an extra exterior room that may accommodate chairs, tables and other furniture, to be used as living space. Screens are often used in some areas to exclude flying insects.

There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location. Verandas, for example, are usually quite large and may encompass the entire facade as well as the sides of a structure.

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan has the longest porch in the world at some 660 feet in length.

Porches typically are architecturally unified with the rest of the house, using similar design elements as the rest of the structure, and may be integrated into the roofline or upper stories. Decks are similar in function to porches, but typically are open to the sky, are of bare wood construction, and do not integrate in design with the rest of the structure.

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See also