Porch of the Week: Woodsy Three-Season Space in Maine
A design-build firm crafts a versatile porch from lumber harvested and milled on the site
This Freeport, Maine, porch lets in all the breezes during summer, but the homeowners can use its special vinyl windows to enclose it during the shoulder seasons. Design-build firm Steve’s Custom Homes gave the space cabin-in-the-woods appeal with wood cladding the walls and ceiling, and clerestory windows that extend up to the vaulted ceiling. The attitude toward constructing the energy-efficient home was “Waste not, want not” — the team harvested the lumber used to build the porch from the property and milled it on-site.
Here’s another look at how the decks and porch relate to the house and the wooded site. This house is net zero energy-wise, which means over 12 months it produces at least as much energy as it uses. The solar panels are located on the south-facing roofs.
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The beautiful forest full of year-round evergreen color drew the homeowners to this property. The construction team cleared enough space for the house, driveway and front yard, but made sure the backyard would maintain the feeling of being in the woods.
Here are the white pine trees the team felled when clearing the site for the new house. “We brought in our portable sawmill and cut all the components, then stickered and covered them to dry while we built the home,” Adamczyk says.
“Stickering” means stacking the lumber pieces with narrow strips of wood between them. This allows air to flow through during the drying process.
There’s a beautiful simplicity to the timber-frame construction. At the point in the process seen in this photo, the porch was really starting to take shape. This photo also shows how close the porch is to the edge of the woods.
The forest embraces the porch on three sides. In addition to the structural posts and beams, all the tongue-and-groove paneling that covers the walls and ceilings came from and was milled on-site. This created a meaningful indoor-outdoor connection. Slate-like porcelain tiles cover the floors, adding to the natural look.
The custom windows are Amazing EZ-Screen Porch Windows. The four-track windows have aluminum frames and vinyl glazing. The vinyl protects the porch from rain, snow, pollen and dust. It also blocks the wind, which is especially helpful during spring and fall. These windows were custom-made to fit the unique sizes of the openings.
This photo shows the three lower panels of the four-panel windows pushed all the way open. They stack at the top of the opening. This means the vinyl blocks the breeze only where you see the top two panes on each window. “The windows turn this room into a three-season room quite well,” Adamczyk says.
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The custom windows are Amazing EZ-Screen Porch Windows. The four-track windows have aluminum frames and vinyl glazing. The vinyl protects the porch from rain, snow, pollen and dust. It also blocks the wind, which is especially helpful during spring and fall. These windows were custom-made to fit the unique sizes of the openings.
This photo shows the three lower panels of the four-panel windows pushed all the way open. They stack at the top of the opening. This means the vinyl blocks the breeze only where you see the top two panes on each window. “The windows turn this room into a three-season room quite well,” Adamczyk says.
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This is what the windows look like when the panels are closed — note the four horizontal muntins across each opening. The custom-made clerestory windows are fixed. The black metal on the deck and stair railings is a nice match for the black aluminum windows; the steel rod railings keep the views of the trees open.
“We love these windows because you would swear they are glass when you’re looking at them. And they are virtually indestructible,” Adamczyk says. “If a grandkid runs into them, they bounce right back.”
Browse windows in the Houzz Shop
“We love these windows because you would swear they are glass when you’re looking at them. And they are virtually indestructible,” Adamczyk says. “If a grandkid runs into them, they bounce right back.”
Browse windows in the Houzz Shop
There’s quite a contrast between the porch and the rest of the house. The interiors have an open loft-like feeling. And the white walls, ceilings and beams provide a strong contrast to the deep range of greens seen through the glass. “Inside, it’s all modern technology, but then you step onto the porch and feel like you’re in a camp out in the woods,” Adamczyk says.
The doors that lead to the deck are behind the sofa on the left, and the opening to the porch is behind the dining table. The kitchen is open to the living room and is located just out of the frame to the left.
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The doors that lead to the deck are behind the sofa on the left, and the opening to the porch is behind the dining table. The kitchen is open to the living room and is located just out of the frame to the left.
Not sure where to start on your home project? Click here to learn the basics
The team trucked the leftover wood back to the shop to use as firewood in Adamczyk’s greenhouse. He used them in the clean wood-burning furnace that heats it during the colder months. “Milling on-site was very low-impact — we didn’t have to have a big diesel truck taking the trees out or bringing in new lumber for the porch. This truck was going back to the shop anyway,” he says.
The homeowners are thrilled with the final results. “This was a really cool project,” Adamczyk says. “At the top of the homeowners’ wish list was a place to relax and feel like they were in the woods. I am happy to say we achieved that.”
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The homeowners are thrilled with the final results. “This was a really cool project,” Adamczyk says. “At the top of the homeowners’ wish list was a place to relax and feel like they were in the woods. I am happy to say we achieved that.”
More on Houzz
Browse thousands of porch photos
Read more stories about porches
Hire a local general contractor
Shop for your porch
Porch at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired couple
Location: Freeport, Maine
Size: 192 square feet (18 square meters); 16 by 12 feet
Designer and builder: Steve Adamczyk of Steve’s Custom Homes
These clients loved the Maine woods and wanted to feel close to them in their new home. “They wanted their porch to feel like they were out in the woods at Grandpa’s cabin,” Steve Adamczyk of Steve’s Custom Homes says. They’d looked for quite some time to find just the right piece of land to provide that feeling and were very involved in the design of the house. The husband worked on a lot of architectural renderings himself, then Adamczyk made those ideas work within the constraints of the site, the homeowners association, the budget and the net-zero energy-efficiency goals.
Just off the porch is a two-tiered deck. The grilling and lounging areas are located directly off the house, and the lower deck is an octagonal dining-and-game-playing deck. The decking is Trex, a composite material that includes recycled plastic.
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