Pondering A Pergola
Y’all know how the NW corner looks. I moved the entry back to this location because there was a roofed porch here in 1894. It was removed during the circa-1921 conversion of the Carriage House into an actual house.
The carriage house, around 2002, shortly after Bob Rodak purchased it. The 1921 porch was a behemoth and overwhelmed the 1894 structure. It was also structurally failing.
I removed it in 2014, freeing the distinctive turret.
A few years ago I developed how the new porch…again, in the original location…might look. Recently, I decided to remove the non-original dormer (middle) because it is too close to the turret. The turret door, also not original, would go away and the wall shingled.
Today I woke from a nap with a surprising thought: What if, instead of a shingled roof, I installed a pergola? This thought was just sitting in my head, sipping some wine.
But what, you may ask, is a pergola?
The answer.
I will be installing two pergola’s behind the Cross House:
- Between the two ‘shipping containers’.
- Above the huge limestone slab covering the original cistern. Then I can place a table and four chairs under. Topping the pergola will be clear plastic to prevent rain. So, I can dine at the table during the rain and stay dry.
So, what if I installed a third pergola in the NW corner of the Carriage House? This offers certain benefits:
- This will be WAY easier than installing a roof.
- Topping the pergola would be a deck so, during the rain, one would stay dry under.
- I could then…drum roll, please…keep the turret door! Thus, while using the turret master bath one could step outside. I love this.
- I would not have to tear off any of the recent work I did to the NW corner. The pergola bits would simply attach to the structure. The upper deck would stay clear of the east wall a bit to allow light to reach the diamond window. Thus, no flashing.
- Above the pergola would be a railing matching the Cross House.
- I might leave the dormer as the pergola and railing would distract from how close the dormer is to the turret.
Supporting the pergola would be a single column (as shown in the above drawing) matching those on the Cross House.
I need to do a measured drawing to confirm that all this could work.
But I am fascinated by the idea. It might though prove too visually cluttered so my excitement is…measured. To offset this, I might not do the upper deck and railing.
20 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel Reply
Your email address will NEVER be made public or shared, and you may use a screen name if you wish.
I think it is a splendid idea. Also cheaper and faster than the previous plan of removing the window, repairing the roof and extending the roof. I’m sure it would be sturdy and it would also provide shelter from the weather when fumbling for your key to the front door. I would be wary of permanent furniture but perhaps you can build a short bench along the side closest to the roof so it couldn’t be seen. It would offer a place to sit without the need to put any permanent furniture on top of the pergola.
You could also grow something up and along the edge of it, like roses or a grape vine. Wisteria would be lovely but you have to be careful not to get the invasive kind. Roses come in all shades so you could find one to match the ceiling of the Cross House porch. A line of rose bushes would also distract from that concrete basement block along the front of the Carriage House.
Go back to sleep and try again.
I thought pergolas always had an open framework at the top and never a deck. Otherwise wouldn’t it just be an Arts and Crafts design porch- and not a pergola?
Hi, Michael.
I’m not sure about the word always. I would use mostly. I would guess that Edwin Lutyens did a roofed pergola or two.
My idea is more aesthetic intended rather than rigorously correct. And I’m a Aquarian. We don’t really do rules. Nor did Lutyens.
Also, pergolas were popular in the 1890, too.
Not sure how pergolas are defined in American English but in Europe a pergola is always an open structure, mostly covered by vine or some other climbing plant. Some have a light and nearly invisible roof (eg. corrugated plastic sheets or glass) to protect against rain, but no roof to walk on it like on a balcony or a porch.
I love the idea, though.
A matching pergola on the back kitchen door would also look good.
Oh, yes. Over the new expanded deck.
That one could be open and have vines trained over it; grape or roses.
I have three pergolas. Once freestanding between the house and garage and two attached to the fence, one in the front and one in the back.
Pergola plural… pergoli?
Ahhhh, just kidding.
Nope, pergolas are for the back or side yard. That would look great over yor back door and deck. It would make the front look cheap. Your plan for the covered porch looks great, and would look original. Aren’t you always talking about …The narrative? Lol
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.
I have a hard time visualizing things, so I’m looking forward to seeing the drawing. You do some of your best thinking when you draw, so it will be fun to watch you work through the process.
I’m not sure the city would be excited about a door onto a structure that doesn’t have a solid floor and sturdy railings, but I know exactly zero about city building codes. It will be interesting to watch you work through that approval process too.
I think a pergola without access to the roof would be nice. It would be easier to build and allow the Carriage House to share details with the Cross House but not be a clone.
The other thing is building codes probably require the 42” tall railing for the second floor.
Nope, stick to your original plan
Blame my OCD, but I think the turret looks odd hanging off the house. Maybe build a small porch the same shape as the turret that connects to the one covering the front door, just big enough for a small table and a couple chairs?
You do you! This will burble around in the ether a bit and the correct solution will win out. Your design sense is terrific. Either way, original or pergola, would be great. And easy is always nice….(or at least easier…)
Thank you, Derek.
I’m a big believer of the burble around method.
The iterative design process is really the best. I cringe when people buy a place an immediately make a bunch of changes. Almost always, if they had lived there for a while (a year maybe?), different and better solutions would be found. And perhaps have been cheaper and easier. That is always my advice to folks. Move slowly and think about options. Burble/muddle along! One of the reasons I like this blog so much is that you share ideas and then are not afraid to rethink them, or change as you proceed.
Okay, I’ve been reading this blog for at least seven years now and I think this might be my very first ever comment – if not, it’s certainly one of three or four.
The thing that’s bringing me out of lurker mode is to say that as a lifelong renter I would be *so very* turned off from renting by a pergola instead of a porch roof.
1. I think it would absolutely reek of “I stuck this on here because it’s cheaper and faster than doing anything else, like an actual roof.” It feels like the kind of thing a lazy flipper who cuts corners would do, and while we all know that’s very much not you, as a new renter I would wonder what other corners had perhaps been cut.
2. There’s no way that slapping a pergola on there wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. While I know you’re all about mixing the very new with the period recreation and you’re being much more casual about that with the Carriage House, I strongly feel like this would be the wrong kind of mixing.
3. In my opinion, pergolas are a back yard thing and read as super super casual.
and finally, 4. If I, again as a renter, came into a house like the Carriage House will hopefully turn out to be, done with care and attention to detail, and there was a door and a balcony off of my bathroom, I would absolutely be extremely confused as to what the heck it was even for. It’s a front of the house situation, so no privacy, and it’s off the bathroom, so weird. It wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me the way that a pergola honestly might be, but I would very much never in a million years use it.
I do understand that you’re going to do whatever you decide to do, and it does seem that often people telling you that they don’t think it would be a good idea can make you dig your heels in a little bit, but as someone who would be in your target demographic of renter (treasures old homes and prefers to live in them, can afford a hefty thwack of rent each month, and willing to live next to an active Project House) I would feel badly if I didn’t put my .02 into the conversation as a perspective you may not have considered.
Hi, Jessie Mae.
You wrote: “There’s no way that slapping a pergola on there wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb.”
Ye have little faith in my experience and talent! While I may have recently slapped on vinyl, I don’t have a history of slapping things together architecturally. Rather the opposite!
Jessie, I’m highly confident that I can create a gorgeous and impressive pergola, if I decide to go in such a direction.
“Pergolas are a back yard thing.”
Pergolas can be used anywhere. See my next post.
Regarding the turret door, I would not expect people to stand on the porch naked. If I used the bathroom I would, during nice weather, leave the door open. I could shower or take a bath and have a sense of the outdoors, kinda sorta like an outdoor shower. And nobody from the street could see in. I would love this.
I also envision such a deck (part of the master suite) being enjoyed for morning coffee, or a late night glass of wine. How nice with a partner, up in the trees.
Also, kitties and doggies would enjoy the deck, the only porch on the second floor.
Lastly, I’m not a dig-in-my-heels kinda guy. If I really love an idea I’m gonna go ahead no matter what others think, as I did with the striped floors in the Cross House. If I’m 50/50 about something, and a lot of people hate the idea, I will normally let the idea drop, as I did about putting vintage ceiling fans in the Parlor and Library.
Oh, and nice to hear from you, Jessie Mae! BIG hug! Ross
I do love your rendering of what the traditional porch roof would look like and cant wait to see your vision for the pergola articulated in pencil for comparison.