|
DANCING BUTTERFLYS SUBDIVISION PURISCAL COSTA RICA |
||||
|
|
||||
 |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
Rediscovering the front porch
|
|||||
Our love affair with the porch runs deep. To us, a porch is more than just an architectural addition. It's a room without walls, a simple, peaceful space where we can watch the world go by while lazy breezes caress our souls, where it's so quiet we can hear nature. We remember the unhurried days...that passed by in our youth, and we long to return to them.The concept of the porch can be traced back to the ancient civilizations who erected verandas to shade interior gardens. Before industrialization and massive population growth created a cookie cutter closed in society, porches were practical additions to a home, serving to shade the facade not that its gets too hot in Puriscal since it rarely gets above 75F. Porches are icons of deliberate living, full of leisure and gentle conversation. The porch is our connection to nature, our green communion. But
toward the end of the 19th century, central heating and electric lights eliminated the need for a porch that was sized and positioned to welcome the sun's warmth. The traditional front porch began to dwindle from new houses, replaced by rear and side porches. The advance of the automobile also contributed to the fall of the front porch: who wanted to sit and watch the sunset while a stream of cars stormed past, filling the air with noise and exhaust? People went inside their our air-conditioned dens and rumpus rooms. Lovers left the porch swings. Children gathered their toys and headed for the playrooms. We flipped on our TVs and stopped talking. A silence descended on our streets. Passersby no longer raised a hand in greeting; they counted the sidewalk cracks or stared at our white curtains, backlit by a dancing blue glow. We look to the past with a discerning eye, retracing our steps and trying to regain the path to familiar, friendly, traditional living. Porches are seen as an important element of that quest; they're being included as popular selling points on new homes, as more and more people search for the simple life. In our planned community at Dancing Butterflys the porch is not only a welcome addition, it's an imperative. In an admirable attempt to recapture the feel of small-town life, porches are included to present a congenial countenance to the street. We designed this community for all houses to include porches in order to connect the occupants to the street and the sidewalks of Dancing Butterflys. On your porch it's possible to be in a private space and still participate in a public sense—and the public can participate in a home owner's private world." It
is this embrace of healthy interaction that contributes to the porch's once-again burgeoning popularity. The boundaries between private and public domains are blurred by the addition of a porch and are further enhanced by its design. Noble columns and nostalgic railings offer a cordial welcome to guests, as do soft chairs, lush potted plants and sweating glasses of lemonade, area rugs and white-painted floor boards, tufted pillows and bowls of bright fruits. There is a movement back to the roots of our contentment. We are tired of sitting inside while the world passes by outside. We are rediscovering that our need for human interaction shouldn't end at our front door, but should include our neighbors as they stroll past each dusky evening. We are gradually realizing that our hunger for peace and calm cannot be sated by a droning TV in a stale, air-conditioned room; it can only be fulfilled by the lull of conversation, the whisper of the wind in the trees, and the hum of the world as we sit out on our porch.
|
|||||
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
||||
HAROLD/ORBIT TRAVEL/REAL ESTATE |
|||||
|
|||||
