Entry Doors

Close by my house a neighbor has remodeled the front of their house. They added a room and enclosed the area in front of their front door. The newly enclosed space forms an outdoor room with a fireplace. It looks nice, but removed the sense of entry to their house.

Architecturally the front door should be obvious. One designs a transition from the out of door to the interior. The transition can be processional like the red carpet to the Academy Awards. Even tract homes have something to set the front door apart from the rest of the building.

My home has a larger overhang than the rest of the house. The door is set back from the rest of the West wall. It conveys a sense of shelter or transition.

My neighbor's remodel has the entry to the new outdoor space and the garage wall in the same plane. The overhang is exactly the same. The only feature to identify it as an entry is the shape and size (it is the only man door). The same wall has a door for cars, the back of a fireplace, and 5' tall windows.