Some porch enclosures are surprisingly successful, but most are not.  When done in a manner that does not acknowledge the prevailing style of the rest of the house, or in a way that emphasizes mass over void, such enclosures can have not only a deadening effect on the facade, but a loss of architectural integrity often results as well.

Here are seven porch enclosures that fail to enhance the the appearance of the houses they impact:

This mid-20th century porch enclosure feautres disproportionately small windows and a coating of a Formstone-like material which is at odds with the rest of the house.

The surviving triangular brackets beneath the roof are all that remain of the Craftsman styling this former porch once possessed.

Not only was the porch enclosed with stained wood siding, but the material was placed on the lower slope of what had once been a Mansard roof! The formerly flat upper portion of the roof has had a low-pitched roof with overhanging eaves placed upon it like a cap!

This rather crude enclosure does not mesh well with the more sophisticated styling it is attached to.

A common type of porch enclosure which completely alters the character of a small house.

Each end of this wrap-around porch was enclosed resulting in two blocky appendages with under-scaled windows. Fortunately, the recessed center area offers some visual relief from what otherwise would have looked like a box car.

Looking a bit like a tiny ranch house, this mid-century enclosure fails to hide the modest Italianate origins of the main house.

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