IN T H E G A R D EN
outdoors
t
here’s no place like a covered
porch. That’s a mantra in the
South—and was the motivation for
Pete Vallas and Mark Davis, who
added one to the back of their
cottage in Mobile, Alabama. “I
wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said
I’d be claustrophobic without a proper porch,”
says Pete, an architect who designed the
12
x
24
-
foot addition. “When we moved in, the yard
seemed so tiny that I wondered if we even had
room for a porch. But it’s an interesting fact that
the more you squeeze into a garden, the bigger
the garden seems.”
Pete designed the porch as an extra living
space—a room where he, Mark, and friends could
enjoy fresh air and coveted shade. He wanted the
MAKING ROOM
Undeterred by the small backyard of
their English-style house,
above,
Pete and Mark built on
a back porch and found that it added more living space
than it subtracted. To integrate the porch w
ith house
and garden, Pete painted the wicker chairs,
top,
the
same brown as the home’s window trim.
114
JUNE 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
