Is it a Porch or a Patio?

by Jay Thompson on April 1, 2008 · Comments

in Phoenix Real Estate, Random Musings

A couple of days ago, I labeled a listing photo “covered back porch”. My lovely bride said, “It’s a patio you knucklehead, no one around here calls them porches”.

What ever. It’s always been “porch” to me. I suppose it comes from my parents, both born and bred in southern Middle Tennessee. We never sat out on the “patio”, we sat out on the porch.

From Wikipedia:

A porch is a structure attached to the front or back entrance of a building. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure

And…

A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that often adjoins a residence and is typically paved. It may refer to a roofless inner courtyard of the sort found in Spanish-style dwellings or a paved area between a residence and the garden.

Apparently Linda Hutchinson agrees with me. She wrote, Front Porch Wisdom.

So how about it folks, do you refer to them as porches or patios? Is it a regional dialect thing?

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  • Around the valley, I'm used to it being called a back patio, if I see porch, then I think it is in closed. Back in the midwest, patio is very open, while a porch has some sort of pony wall type rail.
  • A patio is a slab of concrete and it can be screened or covered. A porch is a way of life, a room with a view, covered but it can be screened or open with PLENTY of rocking chairs or swings. Typically wood and charming. Porches rule! Cute article!
  • How about balcony? Or even veranda? I think it is a regional thing. I only started saying porch when I moved to Texas.
  • In The Valley, it's definately a patio if it's in the back and it's a porch if it's in the front. I think that's a good compromise.
  • Jay, we have a lot of front (and side) porches in the Carolinas and we call them porches, verandas and piazzas. We have screened porches and some covered porches in the rear. When the space is open to the sky, we call it a patio. And to take it a step further, we have grilling patios because you don't want to grill in a covered space or you might burn down your house. The patio doesn't necessarily have to be a slab of concrete, you can do tile, flagstone or other materials but bottom line, I think that a patio is open to the sky while a porch is covered.
  • My mother was born in the small west Texas town of Roaring Springs while my father was from the small southern Tennessee town of Loretto. Both called any sitting area attached to a house “a porch”.

    As an Arizona Native I agree with Rick. A porch is in the front of the house and a patio is in the back. Due to the intense summer sun here – both are usually covered.
  • I agree with Rick and naturally Francy. It's a porch in front of the house, and it's a patio every where else. You sit on the porch, where the neighbors can see you and you can see them. But you sit on your patio, to be private.
  • it's a patorch, yo.
  • Yeah I've always referred to them as a back patio or a front porch. I always thought a porch was the same as a patio except it was elevated off the ground - once again I'm wrong!
  • Since I grew up all over the country- my opinion is not geographically influenced. Porch is in the front and the patio is in the back, preferably covered in Arizona- Francy wins :) -Jay did you really think you would had a chance. In Hawaii- it is a lanai
  • I was an insurance agent not all that long ago, and from an insurance perspective, Linda Hutchinson is essentially correct. A patio can be on the front or back of the home, it is either covered or uncovered and screened or unscreened but it is always slab of concrete. A porch can be on the front or back of the home, but it is built-up and almost always is covered by the roof of the home.
  • I think Taylor nailed it. Sorry Jay. We too have this discussion quite often around our office.

    If you call it a lanai here in south Alabama, you'll get slapped.
  • Alright, I'm.......... wrong. Jeepers, coulda used a little support here people... ;)
  • Jay, don't take it so hard, it's more important to enjoy it rather than call it whatever.
  • I am glad we got that straightened out! :) And you are certainly forgiven!
  • British commonwealth nations also use verandah, balcony and sit-out. If my lovely bride showed a preference for one of them, I would not use any other!
  • Sue
    Porch in front and patio in back...we also have alot of "decks"...decks tend to be higher up and I've seen them on the front, back and side of homes.
  • Porch has room for a rocking chair and a rail to prop your Tony Lamas while seated in said rocking chair. The ceiling is painted robins egg blue. The dumb bugs and birds think it's the sky so they nest elsewhere. The smart ones nest there because of the pretty color.

    Patio is where the grill and the beer cooler is.
  • Sue
    Tony Lamas! :)
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