The front porch of a Victorian foursquare home owned by good friends and neighbors in Edgewater Glen had been sided over and enclosed with storm windows many years ago. We knew from a longtime neighbor that whatever was enclosed within had not been seen for over fifty five years.  The homeowners wanted to restore the porch to an open layout where they could enjoy sitting on a swing on nice summer evenings.

The project was a bit like an archaeological dig. The first step was to take off the bead board siding and large storm windows that enclosed the inside of the porch. Inside were beautiful railings with beveled balusters, original to the 100+ year old home. Also enclosed were large round wood columns on each corner that once had Ionic capitals and bases, these had been cut up when the siding was installed. The demolition included removing all the siding and framing underneath as well as tearing off the front railings, steps and cracked stoop which were not original to the house. Also there was a linoleum floor that had been glued down.

The bottom rails were in very poor condition. The restoration included stripping the many layers of old paint off the columns, balustrades and the tile cement off the floor. New bottom rails were milled and installed as well as new newel posts which were designed to be a fit aesthetically with the existing obelisk shaped balusters. New column bases and matching balusters for the front steps were milled in the shop. Reproduction Ionic capitals were ordered to replace the mostly missing previous ones. A new stoop was poured, new front steps and railings built, cedar horizontal lattice privacy panels were installed at the base and a new wooden storm door was installed along with a porch swing. . . the final touch!

It was an awesome project and a bit of a journey finding and then figuring out how to best to proceed at each step. In the end the house was restored to the beautiful vintage facade it once had. The project was a collaboration with Dominick Hart Architecture, AIA. (CLICK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF PHOTOS TO SCROLL THROUGH MULTIPLE VIEWS AND DETAILS).