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Longfellow Porch

Minneapolis, MN

In The North, a porch still wants to be a porch, but being able to live and work from it during colder, darker days means more nature throughout the year. Too often porches block out light to the house, and the significant drop to grade leads to railings, steps, and even the porch itself being disconnected from the very yard that wants to be embraced. This project transcends the porch as a celebratory pavilion on a well-traveled route to the Mississippi River.

To clean up a formerly awkward facade, a thin, steep roof is added that continues the line of the house roof. After reaching its low point mid-porch, it bends and rises again to the west, letting in light, and extending to cover the garage steps. The quirky triangular glazing panel adjacent the house accentuates the lightness of the roof, while also making it a both connected-yet-separate pavilion.

Tiered deck levels allow for privacy, dining, and entertaining—integrating the house with the yard.

Weathering steel columns and trim provide a slender, insulated, lantern-like structure with a natural, durable exterior. A tough, lightweight, economical thin-film porch wall system is easily opened, but allows for nearly year-round use because of the small stove.

Wood from the existing cedar fence was partially reconfigured to create a horizontal screen for the pavilion.

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