More new-home buyers are building houses with front or rear porches

Three-and-a-half years ago, Dr. Dan West, his wife, Debbie, and son, Aaron, moved into East Hempfield Township's Veranda neighborhood.

Their home features a wraparound porch, which is "a great place to read a newspaper and relax," said West, a dentist who owns New Holland Dental Care.

That feature "was a selling point for us," he said.

"It's a conversation area," as neighbors amble by walking their dogs and pushing baby strollers, West said.

"A lot of community life happens on the porch," he said.

More and more new-home buyers feel the way the Wests do. Residences built with front or rear porches jumped from 42 percent in 1992 to 65 percent in 2011, according to a U.S. Census Bureau construction survey. The percentage has been steadily rising for almost 10 years, the study reported.

"Lancaster County has a rich history of porches," said Rob Bowman, president of Charter Homes & Neighborhoods.

Charter "kind of always" built them, he said.

But a decade or so ago, with the advent of Charter's smart-growth community Millcreek, porches evolved into something increasingly functional, Bowman said.

"They're lighter, deeper more like a room in the front of the house," he said. Porches provide a "sense of home, and are a great transition zone from the public to the private.

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More new-home buyers are building houses with front or rear porches