The Quintessential American Porch

"We Americans certainly didn't invent the porch, but over time we refined it and turned it into something that, perhaps more than any other architectural feature, is quintessentially American...In the 1950s and '60s, porches fell out of fashion: Postwar suburban houses didn't have porches, they had air conditioning and patios. But now they're back: In the so-called new urbanism communities that have sprung up in recent years..."