Sounds like you already made up you mind.... The easiest way to think about is: If you don't really need that square feet than hell yeah ... open it up

Since you make an eloquent case as to how the breezeway is not really functioning as a useable room due to its defects, it seems you have little to lose by turning it back into a screened-in breezeway. The one thing I didn't hear from you was any clear plan as to what you will do with the restored breezeway. It may be difficult to keep it from reverting to a storage catchall.

My only concern would be...people walking up to the house. Would they try to enter at the screen door or walk all the way to the other doorway? it appears that the driveway is on the left (facing the house)

Yes I think people will enter that way. It’s common here in that era of house to have a porch/breezeway/whatever that functions as the side entry of the house, before they directly connected garages to houses.

Is there an entrance from the garage directly to the house? Is there any way you could rearrange the whole thing including pantry to create a mud room/garage/side entrance? That would be more functional than a porch only accessible from the dining room, but maybe I’m reading it all incorrectly.

btw your exterior proposed changes look great! Going to be super cute when painted and spruced up!

I don't understand if you will lose the laundry room if you open the breezeway. I think an enclosed laundry area is desirable. If you just moved in I think you should live in the house a year before you decide.

I'm biased because I grew up in a neighborhood of 1950s ranch homes with breezeways, but I'm totally Team Breezeway. I love the look and I love the function.

Sounds like you really don't need the space. I think opening it up would be a great idea. This way you would be able to enjoy the breezeway. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you to everyones comments, I’ve never posted on Houzz before so I don’t know if there is an individual way to answere each of your helpful comments.

I forgot to include that the driveway does lead all the way to the back of the house where there is the laundry room and an entrance. We will be turning the laundry room into a mudroom/ laundry area. Currently it is a dumping ground, so perfect for a mudroom, right?!

As far as people being confused which door to use, that is already a problem. Our packages end up in one of three places: the front door, the end of the garage (not the laundry door for some reason), and of course the mail box. Adding a third entrance may confuse a little bit, but nothing I’m already experiencing. Apparently people in the south don’t even use front doors (so we have been told and so far in many cases have experienced; we are from the west, there is only one door haha. So maybe thats where the mail problem occurs?

My real question was will it effect resale value by taking away square footage, or is it about an equal payoff with an added porch?

As well do you think we will run into problems tearing out the brick wall?

P.S. I’m glad so many of you like the look, I’m pretty happy with my illusraction as well. I think it will still true to a 1950 home.

Where is the access to the garage? Is it in the laundry room area?

We had a large screened porch at our first house and it was a great feature. I think the era of the formal home office is past with the rise of laptops and digital storage easing the need for huge amounts of desk space and file cabinets. If you can put a file cabinet in your laundry room or pantry for minimal office space or have it elsewhere, take over the space and use it as you wish.

The laundry room is attached to the kitchen. The garage door is in the old breezeway/office; we making it part of the pantry. I drew up a quick blueprint to better explain to everyone our home layout. It’s not to scale...haha

As a prospective buyer reverting the space to a breezeway would increase value in my opinion. I love true breezeways and or porches.

I feel like architects should take note of the love breezeways are getting here. Bring them back!

So, the breezeway originally was the entire depth of the house, but the back end is now laundry/enclosed area? I think screening the front would be nice, especially if you have a nice view out front. We had a breezeway and they made the front part a bedroom and the back a mudroom/passage to the kitchen. They kept the windows and door across the front and people do mistake that door for the front entrance, but what can you do? I'm a porch person, so I say go for the breezeway. We would have liked to revert, but ours is a very large bedroom with very large closet (attached to HVAC) and it would make the house three bedrooms, instead of four. Your room doesn't sound like it has a very practical function as it is so I say, go for it!

This house showed up on a realty site on my Facebook the other day and it reminded me of your house. They call this a sun porch but it reminded me of your breezeway.

I also love the idea of the breezeway, and think the drawing you provided turns the house from ho-hum to charming! Go for it!

I would address the front door confusion by adding a circular driveway in the front yard, and landscaping to emphasize that formal entrance, while minimizing the porch. Perhaps no door in the porch screening.

Having an obvious front door is important to a successful design. You don’t want confused people wandering around your yards.

I do love your remodel sketch - very Mr. Blanding dream home.

Ha ha! Not only did we build a craftsman style porch with the beams and stone columns that said THIS IS THE ENTRANCE in front of OUR front door AND had a wide walkway poured leading to said front door, people STILL walk to the wrong door. Couldn't have made it more obvious but, oh well.

Go for the porch.. Value won’t change because the enclosed space is not heated/cooled. Also , I like the blue door In your inspiration drawing.

Team Breezeway :)

Team Breezeway here as well...

I love your house, and I think it would be even more charming with the breezeway you have drawn. I do see one problem, however---breezeways are typically open at the front and the back. That's how you get the breeze to flow through. I've been in screened porches that were only open on one side and they weren't very pleasant because there wasn't cross ventilation. This may not be a problem for you, but I just wanted to mention it.