The Big Back Porch
A four-porch addition breathes new life into a compact bungalow.
Synopsis: As senior editor Charles Miller writes, homeowners Laura Hartman and Paul Duguid lived in a cozy Berkeley bungalow, but their house didn’t interact very well with its backyard. Through the design efforts of Hartman, an architect, and builder Gene DeSmidt, however, the back of the bungalow now sports a collection of porches that connect the house to the backyard. The four porches provide a variety of spaces that interact with both interior and exterior. On the lower level, they added a cleanup porch, used for prepping garden vegetables and cleaning up after outdoor activities; and a studio porch, Hartman’s painting space, which was made to appear as if it had evolved from porch to room over time. Above those porches, a dining porch invites alfresco meals, and a sleeping porch enclosed with bronze screening offers an opportunity to rest in fresh air. As part of the renovation, Hartman and…
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