If you had a front porch would you sit on it?

[lookingforanexcuse]

It’s so common in America and here I rarely see any houses with front porches.

Would be nice to have a morning coffee and watch the world go by.

Yes.

We are very lucky in that we have a decent sized back garden which is very private and not overlooked at all.

But we also have a big front garden and no houses opposite so we have a lovely view.

We don't have a porch but we have table and chairs etc on the front lawn.

The garden is raised from the street as we are on a hill, and there's lots of people walking past in the day, so nice for a chat, and very peaceful in the evening.

I always like seeing benches in front gardens. It looks friendly and sociable to me.

Do you live somewhere with a similar climate to the UK though? As it does make a difference to how useable your garden is. Mine.is north facing and a bog in winter. It does depend on how big it is - if it's long enough you escape the shadow of the house at the end. Obviously climate change is a thing though and more shade might end up being better

If I had a nice porch with a decent view, or it was set back off the road more then I would probably sit in it.

Sometimes Pinterest suggests porches with lovely sitting spaces, furniture, an are where children can play. I'm sure it's staged but I'd quite like that.

This has to be to do with more than just being north facing. Ours isn't a bog in winter and neither are any of our neighbors' gardens.

I would love a front porch like some houses have in America.

We do have a little gravel area under our front window that we sit at quite a lot. We often have breakfast out there, coffees and sometimes our evening meal.

Our back garden is south facing and I don't do heat so the front is much better. We have quite a long front garden and some bushy shrubs and a couple of trees so we are slightly hidden from the road

I have plans for a veranda at the front. We will be visible from the road but don’t have any hang ups about that.

I would; I live in the corner of a cul-de-sac, so very quiet.

DD often sits on the (very tiny) porch chatting to me when I'm pottering in the garden, it's just never occurred to me sit on the front porch because we've got more space in the back garden.

you wouldnt be able to pretend you werent at home

My neighbour opposite has her hot tub in her ( very small) front garden 😂

Absolutely not.

I have a small front porch - west facing so it gets the late afternoon and evening sun.

When it was open, I never sat in it but a neighbour in a similar house would sit out and read.

We had the two open sides glassed in, so it is now a clothes drying area, cat snoozing room, shoe store and greenhouse in the spring - no room to sit.

I was brought up in a house with a wraparound porch that goes all the way around the house. If we do move back to my home country, we shall be buying a house like that. With a porch swing. The dream. 🤣

If there was a big space in front yes. Do Americans still sit on the stoop or has that changed with the decades?

In the UK, I'd rather have it out the back and watch the wildlife in the garden (which of course I'd have).

I remember having to look up what a “stoop” was the first time I heard it mentioned in a song- a Paul Simon one I think. I love the idea of people out on stoops and fire escapes in NYC.

I have a few neighbours in my terraced street who don’t sit out exactly (gardens are only a couple of metres deep), but they do hang out on their front paths, chatting for ages. It tends to be the older retired ones, a lot with Caribbean background.

My grandparents have a little front porch and often sit out there. They have quite a long (and beautiful) front garden too and live on a little rural cul de sac.

A man who lives opposite me often stands outside his house smoking a pipe. He gets to chat to everyone who goes by (it's that kind of village), and I think it's nice tbh. Years ago, I used to live in a little Tudor back-to-back house up an alleyway, and people would sit out on their front step with a cup of coffee in the morning, so we were all always chatting. It was lovely!

This is one of two aspects of American culture that I think we should adopt asap the other one is the way they do Christmas cards! I would absolutely love to receive a little letter with all the year's biggest personal news and thoughts from my friends and family. However I'd actually rather die than write one about myself, which I suppose is why it will never catch on here!

I'd love one of those enclosed porches;with a decent lock on the door it would have been perfect for my kids when they were tiny to play safely in the fresh air.

I live in an older suburban area of the US where houses are fairly close together and not set back far from the pavement. Front porches are common. It's lovely to sit out, like having an extra room. Houses all have basements, and this means most have steps leading up to the porch or front door. People sit on their front steps too.

There's no expectation or obligation to say hello to passers by, for those worried about protocol.

We don't have a wrap around porch but we do have a small table and chairs in the front garden and we sit and have coffee there most mornings (it's not overlooked. I don't think I would if it was).

I think the unspoken 'protocol' is to either make fleeting eye contact and nod or say 'hello', in which case the 'stroller' simply nods, says hello and passes on. Or to give a loud holler and say "XXX, haven't seen you in ages! C'mon up and sit a spell! Want a cup of coffee/a beer/Coke/libation of choice?" whereupon the 'stroller' takes up the offer or says "Sorry! But I can't today" and strolls on with the porch sitter saying " Have a good day, then. Stop on by when you have a chance".

NOTE: The invitation to sit a spell can be made more attractive by adding "Have I got something to tell you!!!!" as an enticement. It can be made even MORE attractive by cutting your eye to the subject of your gossip's house and looking knowingly. lol

Not to completely change the subject....but is 'talking over the back fence' a thing in the UK?

Similar to chatting on the porch, I can remember my mum and NDN gossiping talking over the fence whilst hanging out laundry or stopping gardening to chat.

I chat with one of my NDNs over the fence yes. But the other side is younger and a lot of younger people don't seem to peg washing out these days regardless of weather so don't see them as much.

Only weirdos think it's weird to sit in the front garden.

Otherwise it can be a perfectly nice place to sit.

I'm in mine now, with the cats.

Yes definitely chat to neighbours over fence. Including to 12 year olds next door. Acceptable topics of conversation include their pond and veg efforts, our cat, the building works down the street and weather, obv.

I would as the front gets the morning sun. Same as I sit out back in the afternoon.

I've got a sort of verandah thing outside the front door and we have a bench under it. It gets sun all day so I often sit out on it.

I would love a wrap around like they have on American houses.