Porch pics

[jocelyn plummer]

Very smart!

 

[LadyArowana]

Beautiful, I like the planters and the trees too. What did you do with the other urn type things?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Splendido.

How handsome it now is.

 

[Pford75]

Lady A - the urns are now residing in the walled garden. It nearly killed me dragging them there!

 

[LadyArowana]

Lady A - the urns are now residing in the walled garden. It nearly killed me dragging them there!

I'm glad you found a good home for them, I thought they looked quite pretty.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Though the old porch was a clumsy thing and it looks better without it, if that's the main entrance (and even if there's no evidence for one formerly, though the disturbed masonry to the sides makes establishing it difficult) I think it could do with a fairly assertive doorcase, incorporating the fanlight.

 

[Pford75]

Though the old porch was a clumsy thing and it looks better without it, if that's the main entrance (and even if there's no evidence for one formerly, though the disturbed masonry to the sides makes establishing it difficult) I think it could do with a fairly assertive doorcase, incorporating the fanlight.

Gareth - It's somewhat difficult to determine what constitutes the 'main entrance'. Prior to the construction of this building, there was an earlier flint structure on the site (to the left of the door). This flint structure was incorporated into the larger building (which is both taller and wider), meaning there is a section of flint and some evidence of older window openings left behind. The new entrance was constructed as the 'new' house was built in 1780.

I'm interested in learning more about the door case suggestion - can you point me towards some examples/photos?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Far from being the best example I could think of (but the first one to come close after a quick google):

To me, at the moment the door looks a bit lost at the top of a fairly hefty set of steps and between two larger, and taller, windows.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Or perhaps, a "better" version of something like this:
http://www.fineiron.co.uk/balconies_verandas_canopies.html
(those particular ones are a bit clumsy and off the peg

 

[Penners]

It's somewhat difficult to determine what constitutes the 'main entrance'.

If it's any help in making that judgement, when I visited the house this was the entrance that strongly suggested itself to me as the "front" door.

 

[CliffordPope]

A good example of pastiche. The old porch was much nicer, although it did suffer from not being quite tall enough in proportion, so chopped off part of the view of the door.

As a matter of interest, when was the old porch built?

 

[GRADE_II_MONEYPIT]

Superb work and a fantastic improvement, well done!

 

[Pford75]

We understand from the previous owners (whose family built the house in 1780), that the door is original and that there always were a set of steps to it. The ground levels outside would support this - since if they were higher, the air bricks would have been obscured.

The porch was constructed some time in the 1930's. I guess it's a matter of personal taste, but IMO was far too 'chunky' (technical term :wink: ) for the rather more elegant features around the house - very fine glazing bars. Not only that, as you point out, it bissected the door and completely obscured the fanlight (blocking light to the hall). Furthermore, the roof was prone to leaking or accumulating standing water back against the house which caused damp on the inside.

We understand that when the porch was built, the old steps were removed/demolished since they were narrower and new steps created for the porch. The porch was not 'tied in' to the construction of the main building and was built in LBC stock bricks, in complete contrast to the handmade bricks of the house.

I guess it's impossible to please everyone, but we like it and had the support of our CO and the local community so we're happy with the end result.

 

[Feltwell]

Made the most of the sunny weekend to finish the painting around the porch and the leadwork etc. Am quite pleased with the end result.

You should be more than "quite" pleased - it looks great, a vast improvement on the old porch.