|
|
 |
Info-to-Build-On
Making an Entrance
by Patsy Hennin
Co-Founder Shelter Institute
February 20, 2004
The entrance to a house sets the tone: welcome, entice or discourage visitors.
|
 |
The way in to a house--it’s driveway, it's doorway, it’s final arrival into the home is part of the way we extend an invitation to our guests, family, friends, intruders, salesmen, canvassers. This is our statement to the world that defines that fine line between their welcome and our ability to preserve our privacy. The word entrance is found in the dictionary as a noun that is "the point of place of entering; opening or passage for entering."
I am fascinated by the way a house presents itself to the public. I did take census in 1970 in the days when it was done door to door. I was very efficient at the job so I kept receiving new assignments and I got to canvas most of Falmouth, Maine and then was reassigned to a large part of Portland. I had the opportunity to call on hundreds of houses in the suburbs, in the rural farm country of Falmouth and in the most inner City of Portland. Simply locating the entrance to each house was often an obstacle to doing my job.
Words are one of my passions, and I mused that "entrance" is also a verb. The transitive verb, entrance, is 'to fill with delight or wonder; enrapture.' This would be my favorite way to think about the arrival at my own house; to have guests discover my home and then be enticed to want to know more. Of course, I will also want my entrance to allow me to control the arrivals of others that I may want to keep at bay.
We often see houses placed right at the roadside with a short straight driveway that brings the public world right into the door yard of the the house. This is cost effective in initial construction because service and driveway costs are minimized. For financial reasons it is tempting. But a house lives a long time and has many families pass through it in its history. Consider spending a little extra money and time up front so that the house is sequestered a bit and maintains its privacy with a little distance, landscaping and an entrancing entrance.
| I recently visited relatives in Provence France where how you enter is announced and enhanced by a leading and inviting path that says 'follow me--this is the way and on the journey in you may discover something magical.' Think about your own house entrance. Is it bewildering how to find the door? Do visitors walk around the outside and wonder if they are interrupting a private space? The goal of the entry should be to encourage the visitor into a limited area where they can be welcomed and evaluated before penetrating any further into the private space of the household. As we went from one house to the next in France we were touched by the way that most houses were nestled into their surroundings. The entrances were all subtly available and very intriguing, beckoning the visitor to see a limited view of the house and pique their curiosity.
|
 |
I have served on the local hospital board of directors for over fifteen years - and just recently we designed and buillt a new facility. The new Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick, Maine has spent a lot of the design time making sure that with such a large facility and so many visitors, the public does not have to wander around a huge building trying to figure out where to enter. They have called attention to the entrance and made it a familiar landmark lighthouse style tower next to the entrance which has weather protection as people land from their cars. The entry, clearly marked, has good wayfinding inside to lead the visitors, patients and families to the section of the hospital that they are trying to find.
Our facility in Woolwich was designed to be an invitation. Rather than a bold storefront on Rte One we have a winding driveway that sneaks in among the trees. Once a visitor has pulled well off the main road, there are unique parking spaces to navigate. A truly defined entrance invites the public to walk across a bridge to arrive on the entry deck, over a pond where they are not disappointed by the aquatic life that swims and jumps and abounds in that lively water below. This is a greeting that invites young and old to stand in the rain or sun to witness a microcosm of nature that swims below. Think about how you can invite and entrance your guests, it adds another dimension to your home as a welcoming place.
|
|
|
|
|
|
