Oh I would never open up to make it one room! I do feel like it would be better if the porch were opened but I'm in a predicament with my current business.

I have decided on using Sherwin-Williams Incredible w
White for the trim (to match the vinyl windows) and Rockwood sash green for the siding and then the darker peacock teal for all of the shingles and the crown molding. Do you think this will work?

Thank you for the quote...I love it and feel the same way! Plus we are in the historic district and everything needs to be approved by the city and they would never allow that to happen ;) Lol. Unfortunately, our house was not zoned before it was given vinyl windows and vinyl siding :(

Any thoughts on the retaining walls in the front and how to modify the landscaping to enhance the exterior?

We just talked to our contractor and I think we're going to rip them out.

Thanks for all your help!

Hi - your colors sound nice. The wall looks nice. I would plant two of the same shrubs on each side of the door to mark the entrance. Then two of the same or different at each far end. These are your anchor plants. Fill in between with plants at least half the height.

Well, I have been thinking a lot about what you said and we have decided to open up the front porch. We learned that the foundation of the existing porch is unstable/rotting wood, etc. We will essentially be rebuilding it and it just doesn't feel right to me to not open it up. I have been looking at your website regarding the porch style but wondered if you had any specific advice regarding what would look best in regards to our house. We would like to add some detail and really make it historically relevant. House was built in 1895. Thank you so much for your help!

That's great. You will be shocked on how the curb appeal will improve. Before you do a porch you should research what was there originally. See if you can find a photo of the house before it was enclosed. You really want to restore it correctly instead of installing a porch that may be period but not what your house originally had. I would say that your porch is very low and therefore it did not originally and would be best without any balustrade. This will also save you a LOT of money. Here is some basic info on front porchs. https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porches/

I would guess your porch had turned porch posts but round Tuscan columns were also popular at that time but I would put my money on turned porch posts. One very important thing to keep in mind is the importance of a porch skirt. You really do not have much space but you must have ventilation under your porch to prevent the wood from rotting again. In addition to the porch posts I recommend installing brackets at the top of the posts. Here is a link to the e-book I recently wrote on porch restoration with info on porch floors, design, etc.

Thank you! I just purchased the e-book. We've tried to find a picture of the house before it was enclosed but I have not been able to. We researched the history of the house but no pics :(

However, two of these were in the basement and I think they were part of the original open porch? Thoughts?

Were you thinking it looked something like this? No ballustrade?

Also, there is evidence (from Sanborn maps) that the original porch on our home did not wrap around as pictured and was smaller. My question is should we keep the open porch as a larger wrap around porch or rebuild it to its current wrap around state? I found some examples I like, just not sure what would look best with our house?

Hi - the porch posts look beautiful. Look at the top portion that is square and see if there are ghost marks from a spindle frieze (that is the little railing at the top of the porch) then you know that is what you had on the porch. If there are no ghost marks you just had the posts and no ornamentation. Do the same for the bottom to be sure there wasn't a balustrade. A balustrade would have been about 25" high - no higher than your window sills. You are very lucky to have them and good blessings to the homeowner(s) who saved them. You may find more stuff under the porch floor - I hope - besides marbles.

Wrap around versus original: Your safest option is to choose what was original. The house was designed for it to look a certain way. We all know that homes were modified over the many years to become something they were never meant to be and many times shouldn't be. On the other hand the wrap around porch although not original construction and not on the early Sanborn map is probably still 1800's. I would trust a design change from the early days more than I would for changes made after the 1920's. Personally - I lean towards the wrap around.

Definitely evidence of something attached ...top and bottom

We are going to do a wrap around. Day 1 retaining wall gone...definitely think we're going to require a balustrade due to the height of the porch on the side.

Update

OMG- seriously it is 100 times better already. What a difference opening up a porch can make. Beautiful!

Agreed;) Can't wait until we pull it all together!!

Following

What an amazing difference!

I love it, well done and can't wait to see it finished!

@sammiejanew I love that tiny window at the top of your house. Are both of those windows in your attic?

How exciting!

Longer window in the attic is staying but tiny window next to it is being taken out and replaced with cedar shingles to match existing. I believe it was just put in for an air conditioning unit up there... we now have a Spacepak so no need for a third floor window air conditioning unit.

Your house is going to look great. Can't wait to see it finished.

Thank you for the updates. Your house is going to be a gem.

sammiejanew, I'm glad that you had the foundation problem that led to you following Old House Guy's recommendation of opening the porch. What an amazing transformation. OHG, you nailed it. I love seeing the updates -- the house is going to look great.

Partial siding up to match original 4" smooth siding :)

Fabulous!

OP, Good you got some professional advice from someone who knows history. Consider yourself lucky. There are some poor lads in another post getting terrible advice on their Victorian and sinking more money in to repaint. The advice for old houses here is terrible but at least poster Ken gives his credentials and good advice. The worst are ones that say do this and do that but forget to tell you what their experience is, or lack of. Your house is looking good already.

Notice "tiny window" is gone

I loved the tiny window, lol

Your house is looking really nice. :-)

I know! I thought you might be bummed ;( lol

I promise once the shingles are painted the dark teal...you won't miss it!

I thought maybe it was a tiny window in a secret tiny room, lol. I know you had to get rid of it.

Can't wait to see the dark teal!

Porch Floor is backordered... slowing our project down some. Shingles will be painted to match door in dark teal on Monday! thought I would share an update before that happens...

Very nice!

Following with anticipation. Your home is coming along beautifully. Love the color choices and LOVE the porch.

sneak peak of the painted shingles ;)

Oooooh! That looks really pretty!

How exciting. What a wonderful transformation! I can't wait to see the result. Thanks for posting the updates.

Gorgeous!

@sammiejanew Did you find porch posts to match the original posts?

Nancy, yes we did! They were delivered yesterday and can't wait to get them up!

Nice! Can't wait to see the porch finished:-)

Did you figure out if the porch had any gingerbread on it originally?

Updates ;) Need some help on ballustrade. I like it without but city is requiring 36-in high...

Nancy, never found an original picture but I think there was probably for sure some gingerbread...Any ideas? definitely thinking some brackets

I thought you had the original porch posts. These are obviously not the original design for the square portion at the bottom is way too high. Why would you use something modern instead of original to the house that you already had or purchase a post that is a bad design?

For the balustrade you can get around code by following suggestions here. https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porch-railing-height/

There are some corner brackets you can have on the porch posts but beware - less is more. Do not get cheap ornamentation or you will surely cheapen your house.

following

Ken, contractor thinks that those posts maybe were in the interior of the house on an old staircase that was taken apart.

Either way I'm not sure what to do about the posts... I was told that I can't get around the 36-in height especially on the side of the porch because (next to driveway,) it is a hazard with it being so high.

Should we order different posts? I can go back to my contractor. I'm sure he will be so happy...

Is there a way to visually make these porch posts look more appealing with the type of the balustrade we would install?

I ordered and read through your porch booklet but got stuck with the posts due to the 36-in height requirements...

I know you discussed in the booklet that it does not look good if the balustrade is covering up windows but we do not have Windows we have floor to ceiling doors on both sides?

What would you recommend? Ugh... I do want to get this right!

We are in the Chicagoland area so weather is for sure an issue and contractor thought that if we replaced posts with composite it would be better.

Thoughts?

Well that is good there aren't any windows there. However the usual rail height is about 25 inches. That is a huge difference. Having windows will make the height look that much higher.

First check the height of the square part of the porch post. I believe it may be higher than 36". I would use a post with the square portion no higher than 36".

For the rail height it is unfortunate that the code is such but the only way you can get around that is to follow the design from my website. You can add an additional hand rail that can be removed later. The temporary hand rail does not have to look good but just be stable for it will later be removed.

Another option is the following. This is done in black so it will not really show as white. It can be removed or remain permanent.

See the photo attached. The full article is here: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/ocean-grove/

A last option that is not really good is to use a design that is permanent. The design will be the same as in the diagram on my website but have a more finished look. You will see vertical balusters at the correct height but then you will have the "addition" on top to increase the height.

What would I do? I would go for the removable option. My 2nd choice would be the black metal bar in the image above.

Porch steps railing. You would be surprised that homes with very very high steps seldom had hand rails historically. Therefore a black iron handrail on the steps is acceptable for it will not be noticed much.

One more thing. Your porch skirt looks very nice but the porch posts do not line up correctly. See here https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porch-skirting/

Wow, that looks really pretty! You are really going to enjoy that porch. :-)

Do you have a historical society in your town? They might have an old picture of your house. If not, are there any houses in your area that are similar? You might be able to get some ideas that way for railing and brackets. There is no gingerbread in other areas of your house (ours has it in the gable areas) so probably a plain bracket would be nice if you can't find any more info on what was there originally.

I wish the internet was around when we did our porch 30 years ago, oldhouseguy's website would have been great.

Yes, great idea -- ask your local historical society or museum if they have old photos or info. Our little local museum recently posted a photo of my house in the big snowstorm of 1969! I was very excited to see it because it showed the original porch, railings, trim, etc. :)

What are these body colors? Rockwood Sash and something else? Looks lovely. I would like something similar.

@sammiejanew what color is the front door? You mention peacock teal, but SW only has a Blue Peacock, is that it? The colors are gorgeous together and I'm thinking of using SW Rookwood Sash Green for my siding as well.

@greenhousedc Yes it's Blue Peacock! I still get compliments all the time and I am so happy with my choice!