Almost 15 years ago, when we saw our now forever home on Pennlyn Place in Ocean City, one of the first reactions we had upon seeing the house was, “What a nice front porch it has.” Funny, but back in 1986, when we first saw our house of 31 years in Mineola, we were taken by the fact that it too, had a lovely front porch. I guess we’re front porch people!
The day we first saw our Mineola House in 1986. That little boy in the picture is our oldest son Billy…father of three!
What surprises us is the number of people at the shore who obviously aren’t! We regularly drive by house after house with beautiful front porches in Ocean City, Ventnor, Margate, Longport, Sea Isle City, etc, and the one common thing we see are empty porches! Hot nights, cold nights, perfect temperature nights..it’s all the same. The other common thread is the blue glow of the big screen TV lighting the living room! We find it sad that so few porches are used these days, especially considering the locations!
The day we decided to buy 854..Susie and me and our friend Pat Grosskopf
As I said, when we first saw 854 Pennlyn we loved the porch, but we hadn’t seen it’s true potential yet! When we bought the house, it was already equipped with awnings, and when we put them up that first spring, we were amazed at what a change they made. They seemed to make the porch bigger, and definitely turned what we’d liked before as a porch, into an extra room! As the previous owners had taken their porch furniture with them, we made the first of many trips to Cape May Wicker and outfitted the porch with an army of chairs.
As the years went by, we added more things, and a few years ago, Susie got something she’d wanted for years…a sofa on the porch! We were lucky one fall to wander into Cape May Wicker on a “just looking” trip and found a wonderful deal on a 3 cushion wicker sofa and a perfect coffee table in their clearance center! Add a rug, rearrange a couple of our porch chairs, and we had a perfect two room porch, with both a sitting area and a dining area!
Our Two Room Porch with Sofa and new Dining Set
But we were not done yet! On another one of those “just looking” trips at Cape May Wicker, we found the perfect dining set, and again it was in their clearance center! Then just before last summer, we changed out our old Kmart type cooler for an incredible Yeti Model…the last cooler we’ll ever buy!
Just a word about the cooler. Years ago, when we were renting from our friend Denise on Asbury Avenue, her porch was also one of our favorite places to spend our rental weeks. We noticed that at a house across the street, the owners always had a cooler on the front porch, filled with beer and the like. We loved that idea, and when we started outfitting the porch, we added a cooler to the mix. It was perfect because it freed up lots of space in the refrigerator, and a cold drink was always near at hand! We stole their idea, but then we took it to the next level, by adding a drainage system to our cooler. A hose that goes down the side of the house, and a valve that lets us open and close it, making changing out ice as simple as can be!
Over the years, our porch has been the site of so many happy memories. From just Susie and I, to time spent with our family, and time spent with our Ocean City family! From the moment we open it up in the spring, right around Memorial Day, to the day we decide in the fall it’s time to power wash the furniture and put it away for the winter, it is our choice location in our home!
Even at Christmas time, our porch comes into play. Just like we did in Mineola for years…
The porch at 854 Pennlyn might not be available for partying during the holidays, but it definitely says Christmas!!
Take a look at some happy memories through the years. From our Family to our Ocean City Family, to our visitors and extended family…everybody ends up on the porch!
Our last word on this topic…If you have a porch at your house, use it! It’s too important a resource to ignore!
R New Adventures 