Graham Landscape Architecture Photo by Victoria Cooper
There’s an old bit of wisdom that says you should always sleep in your own guest room before asking a visitor to do so.By sampling the guest’s space, you learn how inviting the room is, how comfortable the bed. Homeowners go to great lengths to make guests welcome but often overlook the most essential element of creating a hospitable environment: the entry.
There are many things the entry is not. It is not the front door. It is not the garden walkway. It is not the foyer or the porch. The entry is the environment around the front door where a guest will stand, knock on the door, and pause for a few minutes. The entry is a transitional space from the outdoors to the indoors, where first impressions are made before the front door ever swings open.
“The entry is about how you want people to feel about you subliminally,” says architect David Miles of The Drawing Board, Inc. in Annapolis, explaining that a family in the suburbs may have a different message to state with the entry than a Hollywood celebrity. “It could be a warm and inviting place, or it could be a place that underscores that you [homeowner] are important and they are not. Being in awe isn’t always a bad thing as long as it is well designed.”
Good Design
Creating an entry where the size, materials, and style are not in proportion with the house is a common mistake, so it is important to be sensitive to the home’s needs as well as your style. The rise of the stairs leading to the entry should also consider exterior proportions, which means a lower rise and a deeper depth, so guests don’t feel like they are scaling a stadium stair to get to the front door. “This is one of the most important aspects of the house,” says Mark Sullenberger of Custom Design Concepts in McLean, Virginia. “Depending on the style of the house—be it a English manor or French country or something else—the entry needs to set the tone for its sequence.”
Another common blunder around the entry is that it is too small and not covered. When guests arrive at the front door, there must be ample space for a small group of people to stand and be covered from the elements. But form does not need to be sacrificed for function.
A contemporary take on the entry by architect Travis Price. Photo by Anne Gummerson
Travis Price of Travis Price Architects in Washington, DC explains that there are three types of front entries: one that is hidden completely, one that is a part of the architecture, and one that is simply a grand, wild thought. One such “wild thought” was Price’s project in Greenspring, Maryland. The modern home is nestled amid trees and features a front entry that is clearly delineated with an almost sculptural quality, creating a sense of drama in keeping with the architecture.
“You want to make people feel like they are indoors before they get indoors, that they are welcome,” says Price. “You also want some delight. The front door makes a bold statement, because it is different than the side door and the garage door.”
Visual Cues
Americans love cars, and the car culture has changed the way we enter our homes. Gone are the days that someone parked at the curb and wandered up the garden gate to a clearly delineated front door. Now families increasingly use a side door or garage entry to access the home on a regular basis, and the average guest can easily be confused as to where the “right” entry for them exists.
“A lot of commercial buildings use signage to indicate their entrance,” explains Miles. “We need those same visual cues for a home, but they may be so subtle that a visitor may not even notice them consciously.” Miles explains how he designed a front entry with a set of curved steps leading to an arched entry surrounded by stone with a recessed door. The curvature of the staircase was an indication of the door within, and the soft angles gave the entry a subliminal sense of welcome. “A curved stair is more natural,” he says. “it’s like the steps cascade into the landscape.”
It is rare that guests arrive at a house as pedestrians, so Sullenberger underscores the importance of placing guest parking near the front door. He describes how he dealt with the multiple entries presented by one of his projects, a sprawling English manor-style home on over three acres. “As you approach, you can see the large archway with the lantern above, and the driveway sweeps around the house with a parking court directly in front signifying the main entry,” says Sullenberger. “The secondary family entry has a covered porch with cedar columns. The landscape and the pathway up to it aren’t as wide. It doesn’t have the importance of the arched front entry.”
Details, Details
While the entry is the area directly around the front door, realistically the impression of the entry begins further back, where landscaping and lighting create a focal point leading to the front door. “If you can’t see the front door, you need a small arbor or some other suggestion—a bench or something—that sits along the walk to tell you ‘this is the most important walk to the house,’” says Jay Graham, President of Graham Landscape Architecture. He also notes that it is important to think ahead when putting foundation planting near the entry so that plant materials don’t become overgrown, obscuring the entry.
Geneva Family Room by Troy Lighting
Because the entry is a transitional space, a bridge between inside and out, it is an ideal space for a few personal flourishes, too. “You need to think of it as a room,” says Ellen Shillinglaw of the Bethesda-based landscape group, Living Gardens. “The best looking stoops are large enough to accommodate a small bench where UPS can leave a package or where you can sit to take off your dirty boots.
Maybe have a nice umbrella stand. You’re creating an environment.” She also likes to plant fragrant bushes close to the entry, so guests get a whiff of something pleasant while they wait at the door.
Pots on either side of the doorway seem ubiquitous, but they don’t need to be boring. Shillinglaw confesses that she hates “big, tall, scary green things” in entry pots because they make the area feel crowded and cold. Plus, a potted holly or arborvitae can be very uncomfortable to brush against as you enter the house. Instead, plant low materials. Use pots as an opportunity to bring color to the entry either with bright glazed pots or beautiful flowers, even cut flowers for a special event.
Like plants, the door is an important accent to the entry, one that must be architecturally pleasing, functional, tied to the theme of the house, and proportionate in both the door and the hardware. Bob Buckley, General Manager of American Cedar and Millwork, sees the trend in doors moving to quiet elegance with fixtures of satin chrome or oil-rubbed bronze. “Aside from your yard, when you walk up to the front door, it’s your first impression of the house,” he says.
Perhaps the most crucial detail to a successful entry, at least at night, is lighting. According to Bob Jones, owner of Jones Lighting Specialists in Towson, Maryland, lighting should be examined from three points of view: decorative lighting flanking the door or hanging above it, recessed accent lighting, and lighting in the landscape. “The worst jobs are over lit,” he says. “You need only a maximum of three decorative items. The rest should simply produce a glow that is flattering to the architecture but not conspicuous.”
Jones’s top three lighting picks are a pair of lanterns flanking the door or a lantern over the door (never both!) and a handsome light post that throws ambient light onto the steps, so they aren’t in shadow. He notes that gas lighting is back in style, offering a charming albeit less efficient quality of light. For those who wish to forgo the flame, a moon glow filter placed into a non-decorative fixture can create a natural glow similar to moonlight rather than the harsh yellow light common to bulbs.
Tidy Up
The entry is an extension of the house, and as such, it is important to remember to keep it tidy. Keep bushes around the entry trimmed, sweep the front steps, and brush off the welcome mat. Remember that the entry is more than a door; it is a place that creates anticipation for what waits on the opposite side.
Christianna McCausland is a frequent contributor to ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
American Cedar & Millwork: americancedarandmillwork.com or 800-888-9337
Custom Design Concepts: cdcarch.com or 703-749-9040
The Drawing Board, Inc.: thedrawingboardinc.com or 410-267-7273
Graham Landscape Architecture: grahamlandarch.com or 410-269-5886
Jones Lighting Specialists: 410-828-1010
Levin/Brown & Associates, Inc.: levinbrown.com or 800-296-9060
Living Gardens: living-gardens.com or 301-520-6710
Peachtree Doors & Windows: peach99.com or 888-888-3814
Storey Publishing: storey.com
Travis Price Architects, Inc.: travispricearchitects.com or 202-965-7000
Troy Lighting: (Available through Jones Lighting Specialists): troy-lighting.com
