Oversized lantern-like light fixtures on each side of a front door did not exist in the Colonial period; they are copies of carriage lanterns adapted for wall mounting during the Colonial Revival period for houses that did not have a covered front porch or portico where a hanging light would have been used.

I use a recessed ceiling light and avoid wall mounted lights when possible.

I would do ceiling lights only, doesn't look like there is much room on the left side of the door and I think one wall lantern sconce would look lonely.

I think the size of the fixtures will also depend on the ceiling height of your porch. I think I would be tempted to put just one on the right of the door plus ceiling lights.

Oversized lantern-like light fixtures on each side of a front door did
not exist in the Colonial period; they are copies of carriage lanterns
adapted for wall mounting during the Colonial Revival period for houses
that did not have a covered front porch or portico where a hanging light
would have been used.

I'm talking about right-sized, not oversized, but you're saying that my choices don't match? I can find plenty of pictures of porch + lanterns, but then finding pictures doesn't necessarily mean it's the right choice.

So clearly we lack agreement on lanterns by the door ... but everyone seems to lean towards ceiling lights, which I was thinking I didn't want.

I agree that I need to check the height of the porch -- but I'm still confused on right-sized.

Thanks, and I'm open to hearing other thoughts.

It looks like your door has sidelights and a transom. The second picture you posted has a door only with a nice transom and they chose a narrow lantern for each side of the door.

i think that you could easily do this as well and have a lantern on each side. I really like that second picture. Not sure how married you are to the idea of sidelights.

The porch height must be fairly generous or it couldn't accommodate the height of the door and transom.

If you do decide to use a wall lantern, please consider placing a planter or something else beneath if it's in a location where someone might otherwise accidentally bang their head on the lantern.

Regardless of lighting, no sidelights. Yeah, I know the plan shows them, but that's a modification we'll be making.

I checked on the porch roof: 9' high. Tall enough to manage the door and a transom.

Bugs are no problem if you use a yellow light bulb. Well, a red light does the trick too, but red shines an odd color, while a yellow looks fine. Bugs are also less of a problem if you mount your light fixture 18" or so away from the door -- if you put the light fixture right next to the door, bugs come in the house.

I hadn't considered the potential problem of a wall-mounted light fixture BEHIND the door /the door hitting it as it's opened ... but, yeah, I don't need a broken glass door ... that's the type of detail I like to learn from this board, and I think it makes up my mind about one vs. two.

I also hadn't considered anyone banging his or her head on the light fixture. Since I'm not quite 5' tall, my own head is completely bang-free. Regardless, light fixtures should be just above eye level, so a person would have to be standing awfully close to the wall /in an awkward position to run into it.

I am leaning towards a single smaller lantern now. I like the picture above of the narrow lanterns, but I also think that narrow look only works if they're in pairs. I'm going to look at some pictures and see if I can prove or disprove this theory.

I think the article I
read -- which recommended lanterns 1/2-1/3 the door height was aimmed
at a different style house ... or was just off-base. My current house
light fixtures (wall mounted) are not that big, and I don't find them
too small ... but, you know, the article said that most people have
undersized lighting, and it made me wonder if I'm out of the loop on
this topic.

Thanks again, all.

I'm confused by your reference to a broken glass door -- were you planning to have your front door open outwards? Or is the concern an outward-opening screen door hitting the glass of a wall lantern on the porch?

I do think the 1/3-1/4 of door height sounds a bit odd. Doing the math, 80" door, two sconces at 1/4 the height would be 20" each -- if you align tops with the doors that would put the bottom of the sconces at 60".

I am kind of sensitive about the wall projection issue, having been known to run into the occasional open casement or fire extinguisher box (probably should win some kind of Darwin award). If you choose a lantern with a shallow projection it probably will be fine but if you want one of the big carriage lanterns I would urge you to think about a planter underneath ;-) The planters in the first photo you show are so pretty.

Hope you have fun with your selections!

I'm looking for something Craftsman with breaking the bank. I bought a very cheap hanging lantern, and it works fine for the time being. It's much smaller than that rule of thumb, though. I'll probably end up making one, and it will be bigger.

As far as bugs are concerned- We found that if we left the light on all night, the front door was covered in spiders, webs, and the remains of their victims. We leave the front light OFF unless we are using the door or expecting someone. Instead, we light the light over the garage door so that there is some kind of light out front without creating an arachnid habitat.

I'm confused by your reference to a broken glass door -- were you planning to have your front door open outwards? Or is the concern an outward-opening screen door hitting the glass of a wall lantern on the porch?

I've always had -- and have always been happy with -- a two-door front door system: A glass door that opens outward and a solid, secure door that opens inward. This allows us to leave the "real door" open /allow in sunlight. In this discussion, the glass door would potentially bump into the lantern and be subject to breakage.

Pinterest doors and the like never show an exterior glass door, and while it may not be as pretty as the "real door", it's nice for function.

If you choose a lantern with a shallow projection it probably will be fine but if you want one of the big carriage lanterns I would urge you to think about a planter underneath ;-)

I'm not planter-averse at all (though the poor plants placed in my custody might wish I were), and I agree that they add to the look of the entryway.

I'm looking for something Craftsman with breaking the bank.

I like Craftsman, and no small number of the lanterns I've seen are Craftsman in nature, but they'd look mismatched on the house we're building.

We found that if we left the light on all night, the front door was covered in spiders, webs, and the remains of their victims.

I totally agree with turning off the light if no one's coming over, but I do want it to be "right" for when I use it. Spiders aren't a huge problem here (good thing 'cause I hate them so), but things vary by region.

One think I like about recessed or flush ceiling lights is the glow they cast, instead of a lightbulb shining. It makes a house looks rather Thomas Kincaide-y (don't cringe, I mean it in a good cozy way!) I'm going to add ceiling lights on my porch, and since it will be expensive to remove the existing sconces and repair the siding (on top of adding the ceiling lights), I'm putting a low-lumens bulb in those.

You can get lanterns that, when you turn them on, they are low-lumen. A motion detector brightens the light when someone walks up. I wonder if that would be a solution for the bugs? Do they not come to a low-lumen lights, whether yellow or not.

edited my Thomas Kincaide comparison