— and the porches successfully serve to keep the bugs and the heat at bay. In fact, thanks to billowing
breezes and ceiling fans, the air conditioning was only needed in this porch three times last summer.
Despite its intended use for entertaining, the couple finds that it's also a choice spot for reading the
newspaper with a cup of morning coffee or catching an afternoon nap. "To our surprise," says Wilner, "we
use this porch every day." In fact, they've found that the porches have just become a part of their lives, using
all three porches about six to seven months out of the year. "Back in the old days," adds Wilner, "everybody
had screen porches."
Inspired by gloriously naturalistic results of the porches, Wilner and Fishman have also transformed
their home's entry porch — which is now home to exquisitely organic twig furniture along with a colorful
container garden. "This is a walking neighborhood," says Fishman. "People tend to use their front porch
as an opportunity to connect with neighbors."
The couple has managed to connect to neighbors and nature at the same time. When Wilner was
designing the home, he imagined it would wrap its arms around visitors so they didn't want to leave.
Mission accomplished.

Right: The view of the garden from a living-room window offers a glimpse of a neighboring 1 2- ac re nature pre-

serve. A stone bench provides seating beside the Koi pond. Below: A chaise rests outside the master suite's
porch and two Amish rockers beckon from the porch. While all the other porches in the home are finished with
limestone flooring, this porch continues use of the same slate that was chosen for the master bath.

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