Screened porches are a perfect fit in a green building project. They provide an outdoor room that is in touch with the natural world, and at the same time, safe and sheltered. In our recent building project we incorporated two screened porches.
The central porch is truly the heart and soul of this home. Both the entrance hall and the living area open to the porch in a big way. The space can flow together for large gatherings. On the porch there is room for a dining table, plus a seating area around the fireplace. It is an inviting place to eat outdoors, entertain, or sit by the fire on cold days. Beyond the porch, an open patio transitions to ground level.
The vaulted ceiling raises a 12 foot screened wall to a view of sky and distant hills. Board and batten siding, exposed metal roof, cedar trim, and concrete floor combine interior and exterior materials. On the lower screen panels we added galvanized wire mesh for extra strength. The wire mesh panels are also incorporated into the railing for the outside patio.
Old Texas homes often included a screened sleeping porch. This was back before air conditioning. The porch brought in cool night air and kept out mosquitoes. High ceilings allowed heat to ventilate out. With this in mind we built a sleeping porch off the master bedroom. The lifted roof allows air to circulate and cool the space – important in our hot climate. There is a stone wall on the front for privacy, with screen walls open to the view on the back.
Double glass doors extend the master bedroom to the porch, and expand the bedroom space. Interior and exterior colors and materials relate to each other – limestone walls, cedar trim and concrete floors. The sleeping porch offers a connection to nature outside the heated and cooled envelope of the house.
The appeal of screened porches has endured for over a century. They are romantic and historic. Flapping screen doors recall a simpler time when interiors were not as tightly sealed. Today, screened porches are in a period of re-discovery. They are an idea whose time has come again. They are a greener way to live, and today, we need them more than ever.
Austin Texas Real Estate – Green Building Project
