We are in the design phase of a Greek Revival farmhouse on 30 acres in rural central North Carolina.

I grew up in an old home with a huge front porch and loved it, and the lot we are building on - with a site completely surrounded by trees and overlooking a large, open pasture from the top of a knoll - just screams out for a porch view.

I don't have the completed design yet, but I am interested in a Greek Revival style, with a rectangular central portion of the house with a medium-sized pediment, double/stacked porches, a small "wing" on each side, one which will house the garage, and the other, the Master Suite.

The below photo has some similarities to the idea of what I want, sans the side wings.

I saw on another post where someone was planning to remove the double porches from the front of their house because they made the interior of their house too dark.

I know that on an older house that deep porches make the interior of a house dark. We had an 1850 farmhouse with a huge sleeping porch, and it made the dining room, which had only one window, very dark. It was also shaded by a huge magnolia and some oaks on three sides of the house.

I am planning to use very large windows, or even doors, for the front of the house, the house color will be white, and the interior of the house has a very open floor plan with a 2 story Great Room and lots of windows, and interior color paints will be - for the most part - lighter neutrals with white trim.

The home will sit 40-50’ feet from trees. I believe it faces south.

Can someone who has maybe had a similar style house or any home with double porches tell me what their experience has been?

Also, what type of flooring and ceiling material would you recommend for both the lower and the upper porches? I was thinking bead board for the ceilings, stone for the lower flooring and maybe wood for the upper?