Porte Cocheres Steer Driveway Style in the Ideal Direction

Many people have a “bucket list” of events and locations they’d like to experience in life; I’ve a bucket list of architectural elements I expect to have in future homes during my entire life. On top of my list is really a porte cochere (pronounced “port-co-SHARE”), a portico-like structure attached into a house that allows a vehicle to pass under it. (The name comes from the French “porte cochère,” or “trainer door.”) The roofed structure is somewhat like a carport — but a carport is simply for parking vehicles; with a porte cochere, the automobile can be parked for passengers to leave or unload while being protected from the elements, and then be driven through to the home’s garage. Typically extending from the entry of a residence, porte cocheres provide practicality and curb appeal.

What is in your architectural element bucket list? Let us know in the Comments.

Green Button Homes LLC

Porte cocheres are a common outdoor characteristic of Craftsman and bungalow homes. This 1923 Craftsman features a porte cochere, knee braces, exposed rafter tails and square-tapered columns.

RJ Elder Design

A porte cochere is basically a porch large enough for wheeled vehicles to maneuver through. They are so porchy that haint blue ceilings work superbly on them!

HartmanBaldwin Design/Build

This porte cochere defines the contemporary Arts and Crafts entrance and provides for a weather-protected arrival via car.

Witt Construction

With a ribbon driveway and a porte cochere, this 2,887-square-foot coastal cottage in Maine brims with curb appeal.

Sanders Architecture & Design

An arched stone porte cochere seems beautiful and is functional at this French-style house.

Porte cocheres provide covered protection to the unloading of bundles and people ahead of the car passes through to the garage.

This bungalow features knee railings, a porte cochere, knee braces and square-tapered columns.

Summerour Architects

The garage doors that are conventional are beautifully framed by this cochere beyond.

Mockler Taylor Architects

A porte cochere results in a detached garage at the rear of the Greenwich, Connecticut, shingle-style residence.

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