Beautiful stonework. Would you please add photos showing the whole porch and the whole front of the house? Are the big beams structural?

I added a few more pictures. The beams are not structural, so we are ok with removing them.

Thanks for photos. In my area, those types of beams on 1960's houses have had to be replaced twice. Often the second time they get replaced, the owners add metal corners and cover the tops to slow down any potential water damage. Some people cover the beams with clear glass skylights or frosted glass skylights.

I would suggest removing your exposed beams and covering your porch with roofing to match the rest of the house. The problem with doing that is you lose a sense of entry. In your case the entry doors (appears to be a set of double doors) could be painted a brighter color to make the entry stand out more. Another solution would be add what would essentially be a shed dormer with a lower pitch than the main house roof. If you were to go this route I would suggest standing seam metal roof to differentiate it from the house roof.

That’s a really pretty house and I love the idea of a clear cover.

Whatever that is growing to the left of the front door is trying its darndest to hide your door. Cutting it (and the shrubs on the right) back would help open your porch to air flow which would prevent so much damp and mildew.

Thank you all for responding!! I added a better picture of the porch from the front. I also added a sketch that someone did for us but I’m not sure about the pitch of the roof and the existing overhang on both sides. Doesn’t that look strange?
And I agree in the shrubbery, that will be going as well!

Glass roof over porch:

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Love the look of sketch with metal roof! I had not realized those high windows were even there. I do wonder how the rain gets moved off that porch roof section down to main roof & gutters. If you had to add downspouts or gutters that might spoil that look. I’m trying to understand Norwood Architects suggestion of shed dormer with lower pitch - is that this look but lower where it connects to main roof? What happens with those great windows then? Your home is very pretty. Yes, those shrubs by the entry do need trimming as they got too comfortable & grew!

I know, I don’t want to cover the windows!!

Advice taken-we did take out the over grown bushes on one side and trimmed the others. Now you can see more of what we are working with. Still haven’t come to any solutions on the porch. I like the shed roof idea, just not sure of the pitch and how wide it should be? Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

I would NOT remove the exposed beams. You could attach the LEXAN panel to the underside of the beams so it's not as obvious as attaching it to the top If you attach it with screws you can remove it from time to time when it needs to be cleaned of debris that might accumulate

People often used the clear corrugated panels over top of pergolas to limit water. These are available at Lowes and inexpensive to try out.