By the Book
In search of the perfect porch
August 6, 2010
Peggy Mackenzie
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Perfect Porches: Designing Welcoming Spaces for Outdoor Living
By Paula S. Wallace
Crown Publishing Group, 2010
224 Pages, $43
Swinging on a porch seat languidly reading a book while the world strolls by is my idea of a perfect afternoon. But, since my porch isn’t deep enough, I’ll have to live vicariously while flipping through the pages of Perfect Porches. And perfect, they are.
Paula Wallace takes us to 10 U.S. states where porches reign supreme. The East Coast wins the battle of the perch with six states profiled. Two interior ones (Vermont and Kentucky) and California and Texas round out the Union. Not coincidentally, Savannah, Ga., where the author lives, is home to several of the 40 perfect porches profiled, including the author’s.
Wallace has a passion for the porch and states that it provides “a passageway between our public and personal lives.” Even the porches that seem private on a waterfront create a dialogue from those that pass by on the beach or by boat.
The book is divided by porch location: Coastal, farm, urban, waterfront, country and a last chapter on Creating Porch Rooms. The photography by Chia Chong and Adam Kuehl is striking in its detail. The kitsch that so often accumulates on porches is lovingly displayed in the pictures.
Most of the porches are quite grand and some sport dining tables so large that dozens could dine al fresco. My favourite is in Point Clear, Ala., where a rain porch was designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. Lovingly restored, the owners had 15,000 pieces salvaged to recreate the historic 1881 house.
Other porches are quite modest, such as those attached to the cottages at the Neshoba County Fair. They prove that a chair is all you need to while away a perfect day on your porch.
Peggy Mackenzie is a Toronto Star librarian addicted to home, decor and gardening books. Contact her with book review requests at pmackenzie@thestar.ca.