Do you have a photo of your house and a sketch of your plan? Adding a porch will darken the rooms inside, so reducing the window size may not be a good choice.

You mean you want to add a front porch in front of the front porch that was enclosed to make more living space? I would extend the existing roof line out and basically recreate the trim above the windows and door and the tapered columns. You would also need to remove and add new steps. I would check with the local planning department as you might need a variance to extend the porch. I think you could end up with a look you would be happy with. It's not going to be cheap though. If you're interested in seeing how a porch addition might look on your house check out my web site, Creative Visual Concepts.

Thanks to everyone for your input! It is truly appreciated and helps our direction. You have confirmed my 'gut' feeling that a porch is not the right way to go. Our most used entrance is actually a side entrance (porch and portico already constructed). Most of our guests use the side entrance as well so providing shelter from the elements isn't really necessary. Shutter Discussion: Did this home ever had shutters? I don't know...it's hard to tell since the brick was painted (and likely patched) many years before we bought the house. It is not a true Colonial in the sense of being symmetrical. Should we paint the sills and lintels white to match house paint? It is likely 200 years old in the SW part of Ohio. The walls of the oldest parts of the house are literally three bricks thick. It has had several additions to the back of the house (not pictured). @Remodeling1840: Thanks for the tip! We will continue to look for similar old houses for inspiration. You are also correct about the paint. The brick is painted (not by us, but I actually like painted brick) and the black trim is on stone sills and lintels. The sills/lintels were a colonial blue color when we purchased the house. I never thought about painting them white to match brick....would that be more appropriate? On the stone door lintel as well? Opinion on shutters? @Nickel_kg: Thanks for the link! We checked with our historical society, but they only have old maps of the area. We obtained some photos from older people who were children when their grandparents lived here...The house was simple and classic even then. @Seabornman: Agreed! The door is changing. We have a pic of the original and will try to get a close match for door, sidelights, and transom.

What a charming location — except for the view of the neighbors. I would be more concerned with screening my view of them than how the house looked to other people. Take away the railings and add a pergola, Eztend a large garden well into the lawn. Plant tall flowers (I’d even grow some vegetables like sweet peas!) and layer in some trellies for flowering vines. Create a kind of room out there, one that is mainly open, both in the open ”walls” and a very airy pergola-roof. On the other side of the house do a window box, or a wide 3-tier planter under the window. Get shutters that are actually functional.