Beautiful house! How about something that mimics the look of the front porch? Possibly just a sideways extension of the front porch, using the same design details. Lots of older homes had a porte de cochere so it seems appropriate.

Yes! Agree with Karen S completely love the porte cochere look for this home.

Love that idea too.

Copy the hip roof of the house and build a garage that more closely resembles a matching cottage. It should add value as well as function and beauty. Go a step further and add a cupola and shutters to bring added vintage flavor to the structure. With heritage homes such as this a garage must appear to have been built at the same time as the home, and by the same builder - or it won't look right.

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Without seeing the driveway side of the house it's hard to provide suitable framework. I would suggest emulating the porch you already have surrounding the lawn side of the house - that would be very simple and blend even better than the porte cochere.

Karen Sinclair has the right idea....agree completely...look them up on photos of porte-cocheres online....love love your home...consider hanging baskets

Add an arbor and walkway somewhere in the yard to the back and trim up that big tree.......hides the porch.....and some knock out roses maybe?

I will get some better pictures tomorrow. We aren't in the house yet. I definitely want to keep with the style of the house. I wasn't sure if it would be better to keep it open so you can see the tree line. I have some unfortunate curly hair and will miss not have cover to get in and out of the house!!!! I love all of these suggestions. We are so excited to get moved in!

Hire an architect. Too much depends on site conditions, setbacks, historic committee approval, and local permitting requirements. Not to mention budget. You can easily spend 100K+ on a project of this nature if it harmonizes appropriately to the existing home.

We are n a small town and don't have a historic committee. We were thinking it would probably be better not to attach it to the house. We will be there tomorrow for the house inspection, so I will get some better pics of the house and space.

You can have a porte cochere on the front or the side of a home, or even the back, but it needs an entryway; otherwise it's just an attached carport.

You can build a detached carport that matches (same pitch and materials) the roof of the house and other major architectural details such as support post style. You can add a covered walkway from the carport to the house now or in the future.

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We have a side entry

Are you looking to construct this to the side or rear of the house? A porte-cochere is great for a side entry, and it would be period-appropriate, but this obviously requires attachment to the home and will have a significant impact on the front facade. Given the home's elevation above the street (as evidenced by your photo), a carport will block just as much of the view from the street to the rear as a garage...but I presume you are wanting to protect your view from the house. Depending on your lot dimensions, setbacks, and desired location, either a carport or garage could potentially be located where it minimizes the impact on views from inside the home. Finally, if you proceed with construction of a detached carport, consider pouring a foundation and installing framing that are suitable for finishing out as a garage—making it cost-effective and straightforward to convert the carport to a garage or shop in the future, if your needs were to change.

Additional pictures

Single car