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The Old House Entry Exterior

Enclosed Porch Door Conundrum - 1915 Craftsman Bungalow

7 months ago

The door to our enclosed front porch is unusually small—29.75” wide and 77” tall—and an interior door, not exterior. It’s always bugged me that the door feels insubstantial (and that there’s no entry into the house wider than 31”).

Someone recently crashed their car into our porch. Insurance will cover extensive structural repair, including reframing the front door. This creates an opportunity to swap it for a wider exterior door with narrower/no sidelights, or at least a thicker exterior door. But I’m torn—the geometry of the sidelights and transom perfectly match the existing door. The porch enclosure is not original—my guess is that it was done sometime in the ‘20s or ‘30s. So while the door isn’t original, it is historic.

Should we replace the door with a period correct wider one and narrower/no sidelights? Keep the existing sidelights but replace the door with a thicker exterior one? Or keep the existing door and either strip it or paint it whatever color we decide on for the window frames? I know the architecturally correct choice is to open the porch back up to its original state, but it’s too convenient to have an enclosed/locked entryway to store shoes and such.

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Comments (4)

KW PNW Z8
7 months ago
I’d look at functionality to help with choice. How do you get larger items into house? I see the stairs so this isn’t and ADA entrance but if it had a ramp, or could have a ramp, might there ever be a need for a wheelchair / walker / EMT & gurney to get through that entrance?
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notthedroids
Original Author
7 months ago
The back door is actually slightly wider at 31" and has fewer steps, so if there was ever a need for a ramp or something it would go there instead. But getting larger items into the house is a real bitch — when we got the place there was a couch left in the living room I was almost certain we'd have to cut apart to get through the doors.
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klem1
7 months ago
I would install a door AT LEAST wide as door from porch to home. Side lites shouldn't be a consideration,glass insert in door if desired but soild door will be fine.
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artemis78
7 months ago
I would definitely put in a wider door. Our house is the same age and style, though our porch is still open (but many houses like it in our area have had the porch enclosed over the years for exactly the reasons you noted). Our back door is 30" and the front is 36", and the difference has been critical for things like furniture and appliance delivery. Are you in an area where the sidelights/window in the door are a security vulnerability? If so, maybe a wider wood door with skinny sidelites or even just decorative tile or wood there with the transom above. You can always save and potentially repurpose the door that's there now inside the house at some point.
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