Shrunken Colonial Porch? How a Bigger Stoop and Better Beds Fix the Whole Front

The Scenario

A homeowner recently asked:

"Colonial Curb Appeal"

The GardenOwl Diagnosis

The Assessment

Classic two‑story colonial, good bones, nice symmetry… and a front porch that looks like an afterthought. You’ve got a narrow little brick landing tacked onto a tall facade, squeezed between two over‑clipped hedge blocks. Skinny metal railings make the opening feel even tighter. The front bed is mostly bare dirt and mulch, so the whole entry reads flat, pinched, and smaller than the house deserves. Fixing The Bowling Alley Syndrome—where an entry is defined by its length rather than its depth—is vital to achieving the right scale for this home.

The question: “I’ve never liked this front porch. What options do I have to improve the entrance?”

You don’t need to rebuild the whole front of the house. You just need the entry to match the scale and formality of the architecture.

The Trap: Why These Colonial Entrances Feel So Awkward

This isn’t just your house. I see this all the time on 80s–2000s colonials:

1. Landing instead of a porch. Builders pour the minimum‑code landing: just big enough to open the door without falling backwards. Functionally legal, visually stingy.

2. Railings that shrink the space.
   Thin metal rails are cheap, so they get installed everywhere. But visually they act like bars across the front of the house, slicing up an already tiny landing.

3. Boxy foundation shrubs.
   Those squared‑off evergreens pressed right up against the siding are supposed to “frame” the house. What they actually do is:

   • crowd the entry;
   • hide the base of the house so it feels top‑heavy; and
   • create a big dark blob instead of depth and layers.

4. Straight lines that fight the architecture.
   A colonial already has strong verticals and horizontals. Then someone adds a straight concrete walk, straight hedge, straight porch. It all stacks up into a stiff “bowling alley” effect aimed at your front door.

The result: a house that wants to be gracious, but the entry says “service entrance around back.”

The Solution (Deep Dive)

We’re going to fix this in two big moves:

1. Make the stoop a real entry terrace.
2. Use layered planting to point to the door instead of boxing it in.

1. Enlarge the Stoop: From Postage Stamp to Terrace

a. How big should the new stoop be?

On a house this scale, I aim for:

• Depth: at least 6 ft from the face of the house to the front edge of the landing. That lets two people stand, pass, or sit a pot without feeling crowded.
• Width: run the stoop so it visually spans between the two main shrub/window bays – usually 8–10 ft minimum, more if budget allows.

You want the landing to read as a little outdoor room, not just a code requirement.

b. Structure and materials

You already have a brick foundation, so keep it coherent:

• Brick stoop with matching risers feels intentional and timeless on a colonial.
• Use concrete block underneath with brick veneer, or solid brick if your mason prefers. Just make sure you’ve got proper footings below frost depth.

If your house is in a climate with freeze‑thaw cycles, make sure the mason grades and drains the top surface slightly away from the door so water doesn’t sit against the threshold.

c. Rethink the steps and railings

Right now, the narrow steps and spindly rails pinch the opening visually.

• Run steps the full width of the stoop, or at least most of it. Wide steps feel welcoming and let more than one person use them at once.
• If your local code allows, skip the railings altogether by keeping the rise under the threshold where rails are required.
• If you must have railings:
  • Build low brick cheek walls (solid sides) at the steps; or
  • Use chunky square newel posts with a simple painted wood rail. Keep the balusters minimal – this is an architectural element, not a prison gate.

Thin metal scrollwork? Don’t do that.

d. Upgrade the door and trim

The entry should feel like the focal point of the front elevation.

• Door color: Go a shade richer/darker than the shutters so it reads as intentional, not random. Deep red, charcoal, or a muted green often work well here.
• Trim: Beef up the casing and crown. Add wider side casings (1×4 or 1×6) and a simple but substantial header. On a colonial, clean lines look more expensive than fussy trim.

If you want more examples of how small facade changes transform an entry, check out the makeover in “That ‘Ugly’ 70s Brown Brick Isn’t the Problem (Your Trim Is)”.

2. Fix the Planting Lines: Layered Beds that Lead to the Door

Now that the stoop has some presence, it needs breathing room and a frame that flatters it.

a. Remove or relocate the boxy hedges

Those squared‑off shrubs hugging the house are making everything worse.

• Pull them out entirely, or at least move them forward into a new bed line.
• This lets you see the brick foundation and the new stoop, which makes the house feel grounded instead of floating on a blob of green.

Don’t be sentimental about bad shrubs. They had their run.

b. Create a new, curved bed shape

Right now the bed edge is almost straight across the front. That’s the bowling alley problem.

Instead:

• Start your bed edge near one front corner.
• Curve it out toward the lawn in front of the stoop, then sweep it back in under the opposite windows.

You want a subtle S‑curve that funnels the eye to the door.

A curved line also gives you room for depth: low near the walk, medium at mid‑bed, taller at the back.

c. Layer the plants by height

Think of it as a three‑row theater, with the door as the stage.

1. Front row (1–2 ft tall, closest to walk/stoop)

   • Low evergreens or semi‑evergreens so it doesn’t look dead in winter.
   • Examples: compact inkberry holly cultivars, small boxwoods, or low native groundcovers depending on your USDA zone.

2. Middle row (2–3 ft tall, under the windows)
   These do the real work.

   • Itea virginica (Virginia sweetspire) – native, great fall color, handles wet clay better than most.
   • Inkberry holly (Ilex glabra) – a native evergreen alternative to boxwood.
   • Boxwood – still fine if you avoid over‑clipping them into meatballs.

   Mix in a few ornamental grasses and perennials so it’s not just shrubs:

   • Grasses like Panicum (switchgrass) or Schizachyrium (little bluestem) for movement.
   • Perennials like coneflower, black‑eyed Susan, or asters for pollinators and seasonal color.

3. Back row / outer edge (6–12 ft tall, toward lawn edge)
   This is where you use small ornamental trees or large shrubs to frame the entry.

   • You already have decent flanking trees – just under‑prune (limb up) a bit so the sightline to the new door is clear.
   • If you add more, pick small‑scale natives that won’t eat the house.

If you’re in the US, the Audubon native plant database is a fantastic tool – plug in your ZIP code and it’ll give you shrubs, grasses, and perennials that are actually adapted to your area and support birds and pollinators.

d. Soil prep and mulch (so it doesn’t flop in 3 years)

Colonial subdivisions are famous for compacted clay under skimpy topsoil. Clay can grow great plants, but it needs air.

When you cut that new bed:

• Loosen the soil 8–10" deep.
• Mix in 2–3" of compost across the whole bed – not just the planting holes. The EPA has a solid overview of home composting in their composting at home guide.
• Water deeply after planting and mulch 2–3" with shredded bark, keeping mulch pulled back a few inches from trunks and stems. For thickness and spacing, the University of Maryland’s mulch application best practices are worth a quick skim.

No volcano mulching around the tree trunks. That’s how you rot them out.

e. Clean up the trees

Your existing trees on each side of the house are actually good structure. They just need a little editing.

• Limb up the lower branches so you can see the front door from the street.
• Remove any crossing or rubbing limbs.

Think of them as the proscenium arch for your new entry.

Visualizing the Result Before You Hire a Mason

Brick, concrete, and shrubs by the truckload are not cheap. Guessing on proportions is how you end up with a second round of demo.

This is where a tool like our Exterior Design App becomes your safety net.

Here’s how I’d use it for this exact house:

1. Upload a straight‑on photo of the front.
2. Mock up different stoop sizes:
   • Try a 5' vs 6' vs 7' depth.
   • Test full‑width steps vs centered steps. You’ll see quickly what looks right with your facade.
3. Test railing options:
   • No rails vs low brick cheek walls vs chunky painted posts.
   • Adjust heights and see when it starts to feel too busy.
4. Sketch your new bed lines and plant layers:
   • Pull the bed out into the lawn and soften the corners.
   • Drop in shrubs at realistic mature sizes so you don’t over‑stuff the plan.

By the time you call the mason or head to the nursery, you’ve already worked out the big decisions on‑screen. That’s how you avoid the “wish we’d gone 2 feet wider” conversation after the mortar is dry.

If you like seeing real‑world examples of how a few structural changes reshape an entry, take a look at:

• “Fixing an Awkward Porch Gable: Simple Updates for a Modern Cottage Front Entry”
• “Turning a Beige Stucco Box into a Cozy Cottage: Paint & Plant Fixes That Actually Work”

Same principles: scale up the entry, simplify the lines, and use planting to frame, not smother.