Jennifer And I Enjoying Our Morning Coffee! 

No other part of a house stirs the romantic -- or nostalgic -- in us so much as a porch. Its prime was the late nineteenth century, when the advances brought about the Industrial Revolution allowed Americans more leisure time to enjoy the outdoors. It's been estimated that more than 90 percent of houses built in the United States before the 1930s had porches. But by the 1950s, with the advent of air conditioning, demand for porches diminished, though they did not disappear entirely.

Over the years, porches became more commodious, adapting to different functions and blossoming from all parts of the house: screened-in sun parlors off the living room; back service porches off kitchens; porte cocheres, roofed structures extending from the entrance of a building, under which carriages (and cars) could unload; sleeping porches off bedrooms. But the front porch has always been the grandest of them all. It's an outdoor living room, a place to socialize, drink a glass of iced tea, and enjoy a swing on a hot summer day.