| Here’s a subject that’s rarely given | | | | familiar elements that don’t overwhelm the |
| enough thought in custom home design…the | | | | visitor. Benches, small windows, potted plants, brick |
| way you enter and leave your house. We’re | | | | paths and porch railings all contribute to the comfort |
| just talking about a door, right? A hole in the wall, a | | | | we want our guests to feel as they are welcomed |
| way in and a way out; what more is there to | | | | into our homes. |
| consider? | | | | The human scale should continue on the other side of |
| It’s easy to overlook the design of the | | | | the door. Although some larger homes are |
| entrance to our houses. We spend our time working | | | | appropriately fitted with double curved stairs and |
| on the design of the exterior and creating the spaces | | | | four hundred square foot entry halls, these features |
| inside the house. But the front door and the spaces | | | | overwhelm a typical family home. Entry halls and |
| connected to it occupy an important middle ground | | | | foyers should welcome guests, allow them to get |
| between indoors and out and set the stage for the | | | | oriented to the house, provide a place to hang their |
| success of the entire custom home design. The | | | | coats, and direct them efficiently to the |
| entry begins to establish your home’s | | | | “public” rooms of the house. |
| personality and suggests how the rest of the house | | | | There’s a place for splendor and majesty of |
| should be. The entry is a symbolic passage from the | | | | course, but that’s best left to the grand |
| public realm of the street to the private realm of the | | | | homes. |
| family and tells the world something about the people | | | | Hey, I didn’t invent this stuff… |
| within. | | | | Other cultures also place a high value on the design |
| If Walls Could Speak | | | | of a home’s entry. The Ancient Chinese art of |
| It’s a cliché to say that the front of a | | | | Feng Shui dictates exactly where a home’s |
| house “makes a statement”, but | | | | front door should be to attract good Chi (energy |
| clichés usually have some basis in truth. The | | | | flow) and block harmful Chi. It’s a complex |
| entry can be a barrier or an invitation, obvious or | | | | relationship between compass position, proximity to |
| concealed, pompous or humble; it can welcome you | | | | other structures, roads and paths, access to sunlight, |
| in or it can keep you at arm’s length. The | | | | and views to the outside. According to Feng Shui, a |
| front door and the area around it can be a message | | | | well-placed and well-designed front door can enhance |
| board for the neighborhood – hung with | | | | luck, promote business success, and increase the |
| wreaths and ivy during the holidays, festooned with | | | | health of the occupants. Although deeply rooted in |
| red, white, and blue on the Fourth of July, and | | | | ancient culture, much of Feng Shui is simply good |
| decorated with pumpkins and corn shocks at | | | | design practice that we can apply to the design of |
| Halloween. | | | | the ways that we enter and exit our own homes. |
| Each element that makes up the home’s | | | | Welcome Home To… Your Laundry Room? |
| entry has something to say. The classic American | | | | Although the introduction of the automobile has had |
| front porch is a good example; it’s the | | | | a profound impact on the way we enter our houses, |
| outdoor social center, a place to watch the activity | | | | it was the popularization of the attached garage in |
| of the street, a place to meet and greet neighbors | | | | the mid 20th century that eventually relegated the |
| and friends. A front porch is an outdoor room, neither | | | | traditional front door and porch to ceremonial status. |
| completely public nor private and easing the transition | | | | Ironically, we rarely use the impressive entries we |
| into and out of the house. A house with a big, broad | | | | build in our homes. We’re content to enter our |
| front porch tells the world that the family inside | | | | own house through the garage – often |
| values the social fabric of the street, welcoming | | | | through a laundry room or mudroom. Is that what |
| neighbors and friends and inviting them to stop and | | | | we’ve worked so hard for? Providing grand |
| visit. | | | | entry experiences for our few visitors or the annual |
| The Entry Sequence | | | | holiday gatherings while we trudge daily through the |
| But the front porch is just one part of a sequence of | | | | dirty laundry? The owners of the house should be |
| spaces and elements creating a transition from the | | | | welcomed into their sanctuary through a space |
| public realm (the street) to the private realm (the | | | | designed to greet them, to acknowledge them, and |
| house). That sequence includes walks, landscaping, | | | | to recognize them as the reason it exists. |
| steps, porches, overhangs, lights, doors, and interior | | | | On a recent pre-design tour through a remodeling |
| entry spaces. A successful entry sequence considers | | | | client’s home, the client and I entered through |
| the placement and design of all of these elements | | | | the garage and laundry room, moving aside bicycles, |
| and their relationship to each other. | | | | toys, and baskets of dirty clothes to get into the |
| The entry to a home begins long before | | | | kitchen. She hadn’t thought about it, but I |
| you’ve stepped onto the property. It starts in | | | | suggested we consider reworking the way she |
| the street with the initial visual cues -- where the | | | | enters her house as a part of the remodeling. She |
| entrance to the property is, and where the entrance | | | | agreed, and the result is a small but well appointed |
| to the house is. | | | | “owner’s entry hall” directly off |
| At first glance from the street, the entry to the | | | | of the garage and connecting to the kitchen and |
| house should be seen or at least hinted at to provide | | | | breakfast room. The laundry and mudrooms are |
| a clear destination for our guests. Our old friend the | | | | adjacent to but closed off from this entry. |
| front porch is a great way to indicate clearly where | | | | She’s already told me how much she enjoys |
| the entrance is to be found. A porch or overhang at | | | | the new space and how it brightens her spirits at the |
| the entry also keeps your guests out of the weather | | | | end of the day. |
| while they’re waiting for you to answer the | | | | Knock, Knock... |
| door. | | | | But what about the front door itself? The front door |
| A path from the street or driveway to the front | | | | is at once a bridge and a barrier. Should it be big, |
| door should be direct – people look ahead | | | | small, opaque, transparent, rectangular or arched? I |
| subconsciously as they approach a building, searching | | | | prefer a big door wide enough to make the furniture |
| for the shortest path to the entrance. The beginning | | | | movers happy – at least 42 inches wide. |
| of the path should be well lit so that it can be found | | | | Because the front door will be used every day, |
| in the dark, and should be wide enough for two | | | | durability and resistance to weather damage are |
| people to walk comfortably abreast. This is also a | | | | important. A bit of glass in the door allows permits |
| great place for colorful landscaping. In temperate and | | | | residents to see someone outside without allowing |
| cold climates, leave areas open where shoveled snow | | | | the stranger a view of the interior. A lot of glass in |
| can be piled alongside the walk without burying the | | | | the door is less private, but brings in more light from |
| planting beds. | | | | the outside. |
| A little mystery isn’t a bad idea here either | | | | Although a wood door is susceptible to damage from |
| – vary the direction of the path a bit so the | | | | the elements, it always looks better than metal or |
| scenery changes and the front door moves in and | | | | fiberglass imitations. And if properly protected with an |
| out of view. | | | | overhanging roof, a quality wood door should last the |
| It’s A House, Not A Greek Temple | | | | life of the house. |
| Historically, the design of a home’s entry gave | | | | An Open And Shut Case |
| the public an indication of the wealth and status of its | | | | The front door is one part of many elements that |
| owners. The entrances to grand homes are often | | | | make up an entry design. A successful entry |
| flanked by huge classical columns, their doors framed | | | | sequence starts in the public realm of the street and |
| by elaborately carved surrounds. But when more | | | | moves through a sequence of spaces on its way to |
| modest homes take up these motifs, they often feel | | | | the private realm of the house. The design of the |
| out of place and forced. An entry can be too easily | | | | entry communicates with the neighborhood and is |
| seen from the street, announcing itself too boldly (as | | | | scaled appropriately to the rest of the house. |
| if it were an entrance to an office building), and | | | | That “hole-in-the-wall” is much more |
| draining all of the warmth from the entry sequence. | | | | than just a way in and a way out. |
| Better to design the entry on a human scale, using | | | | |