Howley Design

Globe Real Estate

Stepping out in style PORCHES: Careful restorations by Paul Howley breathe new life into old homes. Archival materials help him to recreate the look of the past, 'because that's what usually works best.'

DIANE SEWELL
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
May 2, 2003
The Globe and Mail

STRATFORD, ONT. -- If clothes make the man, then a porch makes the house.
Paul Howley, architectural designer and the owner of Howley Design & Build of Stratford, has been proving this for some time. His detailed, historically correct porches, which run anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000, have been known to transform even ordinary Victorian homes into dressed up neighbourhood standouts. Known for his quality workmanship and appreciation and knowledge of heritage buildings, his projects speak for themselves.
"There's a noticeable difference in his work. He pays a lot of attention to details," says Lori Thomas. She and her husband Dale hired Mr. Howley to design and build a "Stratford-style" porch on their 129-year-old yellow brick home, which backs on to the Avon River in Stratford. The "Stratford" porch is distinguished by a glassed-in vestibule area that leads to the front door, while also offering access to the remainder of the porch, which runs along the front of the house.
"We're on a main walking route for a lot of people and everyone comments on our porch. They love it," Ms. Thomas says. "If you could have seen what we had before. There was this huge cement pad running across the front of the house with two skinny posts holding up a flat roof over the front door. We planted flowers all over the place to try and hide it."
Mr. Howley designs the porches in consultation with his clients, referring to reprints of old design catalogues and patterns, and sometimes by looking at historical pictures at the local archives that show what a house looked like when it was first built.
"The starting point with a porch is to look at what the house originally had, because that's what usually works best," Mr. Howley says. But even if there are no pictures, the old design books and catalogues make it possible to match a house with the right porch. "With some research, you usually find what you need to find."
Mr. Howley says the most common mistake people make when redoing porches is that they use parts that are too small. Even though a four-by-four post will hold up a porch roof, a six-by-six or even an eight-by-eight post will look a lot better. Similarly, heavier turned spindles, as opposed to the skinny, ready-made versions, maintain better proportions.
"Yes it's going to cost more, but it's also going to last longer and look better. It's that age-old thing. You get what you pay for," he says.
Some of the original old porches sacrificed practicality for aesthetics by not including enough overhang. This meant the porch would rot faster. Arts and Crafts-style porches, on the other hand, tended to have huge overhangs, which helped protect the structure from rain and snow. According to Mr. Howley, a well-made porch that's looked after can easily last 30 or more years.
Mr. Howley started out as a cabinet maker in the early 1970s, slowly expanding his business over the years to offer renovations, additions, porches, cabinetmaking and even complete home building, although he only does about one of these a year.
He doesn't mix with the sawdust too much these days, however, preferring instead to concentrate on the design and sales side of the business. Once he does a project drawing, his three cabinetmakers make the pieces, then three carpenters do the installation. Mr. Howley oversees every project from start to finish, something he believes is crucial to the company's success. "We offer a total package, which creates a very cohesive project. It also makes it efficient -- cost-wise and in terms of simply getting it done," he says.
Ken Nutt, a Stratford-based artist and illustrator who goes by the pen name Eric Beddows, hired Mr. Howley to put a new side porch on his 1896 home. The two men had been friends for years and Mr. Nutt knew they shared similar tastes and a common respect for historical architecture. Using a reprinted design manual from 1896, they came up with the perfect version for his house. "I'm really pleased with the results," says Mr. Nutt, who admits the porch project also was inspired by a quiet longing for slower, simpler times.
"I think they promise leisure," he says. "You think of sitting out there in an Adirondack chair sipping a drink, relaxing."
Mr. Howley has worked on some elaborate porches over the years. One of the more interesting jobs involved the re-creation of a large, old horseshoe porch in one of Stratford's most prestigious residential areas. The original porch had collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall and Mr. Howley was commissioned to re-create it. A stately testament to a distant era, the wraparound porch covers both front and side doors of the large, red brick Victorian house. Its seven enormous, horseshoe shaped arches are separated by turned pillars, and connect a lower railing and upper decorative turnings.
While Mr. Nutt and Mr. Howley both gravitate toward historically correct porches, they also recognize not everyone does.
"It's a choice," Mr. Nutt points out. "You certainly could go modern and say, 'Okay, I'm going to do something entirely new that's going to harmonize, but not jar with the building.' The thing that both Paul and I find really irritating is when people do something really ersatz -- they know the building's old but they put on a colonial porch, so it's neither contemporary nor appropriate to the building. It's just out there somewhere."
"It's all about combining practicality and aesthetics," Mr. Howley says. "That's what makes good design."
To see more pictures of Paul Howley's porches or samples of his other work, go to his Web site at www.howleydesign.com.