“Privacy In a Screened Porch” by Hollis Gillespie

click on picture to enlarge

  A perfect world, according to Stephen Pararo, would not require homes to have screened in porches. “But we don’t have the luxury of constant good weather in Georgia, and besides,” adds the interior designer, “you can’t expect to eat al fresco dinners with bugs all over the place.”

    So the decision was made to make a screened-in porch a major part in the renovation plans of Pararo’s turn-of-the-century Victorian bungalow located in a charming Virginia Highlands neighborhood.  But Pararo had his doubts.  “They’re kind of cheesy looking,” he says.  “There’s nothing aesthetically pleasing about screens.  What’s pleasing is to be able to enjoy the outdoors.”

     Another problem was privacy or the lack thereof.  The porch extends to within mere feet of bustling St. Charles Avenue and a neighboring apartment building.   Pararo’s plan to create a peaceful screened-in oasis was threatened by constant street noise and pedestrian traffic.  “That was the real challenge,” says Pararo.  “The porch was almost in the middle of the road.”

     To tackle the privacy problem, Pararo lined the entire wall of the porch facing the apartment building with louvered shutters-an innovative way to maintain air flow without compromising seclusion.   Then, to address street noise, he designed the porch to open out into a courtyard complete with fountain.  The constant bubbling masks the noise and creates an air of serenity.  The lushly gardened courtyard is enclosed in a white, scalloped fence that extends to the sidewalk.

     “When you’re having supper out there,” Pararo reports, “you’re three feet from the courtyard and six feet from the fountain.”

     “And, to allay his fears of a “cheesy” porch, Pararo created a design that houses the screens in a unique, four-columned frame built to conceal seams and other support for the screening material.  “Even though it’s a screened porch, it has the illusion of being open,” he asserts.  The effect minimizes the presence of the screens, creating a more subdued, sunglasses like effect.

     “Now I can take advantage of the fresh air without all the flies,” concludes Pararo.