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A Porch is Like a Firm Handshake

By Mary Lou Baker

Furnishings are eclectic and comfortable on this porch large enough to accommodate four separate sitting areas.

Mention porches and you can expect a smile and a flood of happy memories. My grown sons still remember Mr. Twitchell, a retired naval officer who lived across the street from my parents’ house in Massachusetts. He spent most days posted on his spacious front porch, outfitted like a ship, with life jackets tacked to the wall and nautical rope coiled around the railing. Visitors were instructed to ask the self-appointed captain of the porch (aka Mr. Twitchell) for “permission to come aboard,” a ritual my sons and the neighborhood children took very seriously.


(right) The homeowners use their generous porch year year-round,even hosting an annual party after Easton’s annual Christmas parade.

This particular memory of “porch etiquette” has other (and less whimsical) variations, most dating back to gentler times. In the Victorian era, the front porch was used publicly as a place to escape the heat of the house, to entertain casually, and to court one’s lover appropriately (at least one household member could peer out the drapery in case a rescue was needed). Porch etiquette for women was almost as strict as rules governing the drawing room—one did not do chores on the front porch, especially sweeping or dusting. Only light refreshments were proper, such as tea. Eating full meals was something one did inside in a civilized fashion upon a set table with wait staff attending. If one was out on the porch at all, a polite “wave” to passersby one knew was required. Both parties would nod and the simple exchange would be over. Visitors never intruded past the front steps unless an invitation to do so was further extended.

Today’s porches are still semi-private spaces with just as fascinating, if more modern, codes of behavior. On the Eastern Shore and in the Annapolis area, “etiquette” is often shaped by a porch’s architecture, proportions, and how it is “dressed.” A stroll through the streets of the Shore and through Annapolis reveal that cozy furniture groupings, lone rocking chairs, statues, and porch swings can communicate important non-verbal cues that range from “please do not disturb” to “come on up and join the party.”

A Porch in Easton


(right) Turned carvings on the porch’s supporting posts are painted alternating shades of red and green.

Some years ago an artistic Easton resident (who has since moved to the West Coast) sketched six houses on South Harrison Street and printed the drawings on T-shirts. The common denominators of these homes were their beautiful porches.

Marie U’Ren’s eight-bedroom Victorian at 127 is one of them. Marie, who was one of March’s featured women who made a difference, and her husband, Bill, a retired military attorney, were enchanted with that particular porch when they moved to Easton from San Francisco in 1994. Built in 1894, the house—including the porch—needed a facelift. Bill, an amateur artist, immediately put his personal imprint on their “outdoor living room” by painting the turned carvings on the porch support posts in alternating shades of forest green and rich red. The porch ceiling is blue and the floor a medium gray. Furniture is streamlined, with a variety of rocking chairs inviting conversation and a long table where the couple entertains and hosts volunteer committee meetings.

The U’Rens use their porch year-round, even hosting an annual party after Easton’s Christmas parade—“weather or not,” Marie says. “The joy of a porch is the many opportunities it provides for interacting with neighbors—to say nothing of the fact that porch parties can be held even when it rains.”

Home to the Porch Sitters’ Union


(right) This porch’s Charleston-blue ceiling supposedly tricks bugs who, because they think it is the sky, fly up, and knock themselves out.

Dick and Bonnie Codrington, whose Victorian is across the street from the U’Rens’s, have two permanent “residents” on their property. One is Lucy, a life-size giraffe who occupies a place of honor on a corner of their wraparound porch; the other is a big black-and- cow “grazing” on the grass below. A retiree who has been known to invite perfect strangers to take shelter on his porch during a sudden storm, Dick jokingly claims title to “membership in the Porch Sitters Union.”


(right) Lucy the giraffe, a permanent resident on this eclectic porch, guards any “porch sitter” who needs her protection.

The Codringtons, who moved to Easton eight years ago, have decorated their porch in shades of blue. Dick claims the Charleston-blue ceiling tricks bugs into thinking it’s the sky. “They fly right up into it, knock themselves out, and fall to the ground,” he theorizes. As for the painting of a sailboat on a calm sea that dominates one wall, Bonnie bought it for her husband from an artist in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

White wicker furniture, a hanging swing, and several rockers create a casual look that matches the couple’s lifestyle. An artist, she takes her cues from the season when decorating the porch or “dressing” Lucy in holiday-appropriate garb. When not making the rounds of the neighborhood with his master, the 12-year-old dog, Riley, likes nothing more than napping on the Codringtons’ front porch.








A Spot for Soup


(right) The elevated floor is ideal for parade watching.

“Leffingwell Homestead, est. 1991,” reads the brass plaque on the meandering porch of David and Stacey Leffingwell’s Victorian house, built in 1909 by a local architect for his bride. This grande dame has since been completely renovated, inside and out. “I think we’ve redone everything twice since we moved here from the Washington area 13 years ago,” says Stacey, mother of three children (ages 14, 13, and nine) and the director of The Pines Genesis Health Care Center in Easton. Major changes they have made include replacing cedar shingles with scalloped siding, installing all new windows, and painting the shutters a deep burgundy to complement the beige exterior. The latest update was the restoration of the curved stained glass window in the turret that tops the regal residence.

Mature boxwoods line the walkway to the house, where six brick steps lead to a wraparound porch encircled by 12 substantial white pillars. The original wood flooring is gray, as is the ceiling. Ferns in hanging baskets and geraniums in window boxes on the front railings add charm to the outdoor living room—big enough to accommodate four separate conversational groupings. Furnishings are eclectic and include a rustic table and chairs, a wrought-iron dining set, wicker chairs, and several painted rocking chairs.

The Leffingwells frequently entertain (their soup parties are legendary) and their elevated porch is a perfect vantage point for parade-watching. Recently more than 50 guests gathered on their property to view a parade celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Easton Fire Department. “My husband says the porch is the main reason we bought the house,” Stacey says.

All Shore photos by Kim Weller.

Tags: Eastern Shore Porch

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