Porches Are Officially Making A Comeback.. And We're All About It

Porches Are Officially Making A Comeback.. And We're All About It

The McMansion-style homes that have dominated the luxury home market in recent years have their merits. (There is all that square-footage, after all.) But there's a welcomed, and much more quaint, change cropping up on floor plans, a feature that the Wall Street Journal is calling "the friendliest place in a house" -- the porch.

As the Census Bureau reported in June, 63 percent of new single-family homes completed last year had this once-again-trendy feature, up from 42 percent in 1993. So what's the cause of this major upswing? Well, as Robert Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, revealed to the Wall Street Journal, the return of the porch is reflective of a desire for social connection. And as "a place between the privacy of the house and the public world of the street," it's perfect for just that.

We couldn't agree more. Other features most likely to show up in a single-family home this year include, laundry rooms, walk-in closets and energy-efficient features, but considering you can't turn any of those into outdoor spaces for dining, lounging and connecting, we're partial to porches.

Here's a look at a few of our favorites.

porch 1

porch 2

porch 3

porch 4

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