Some historians attribute the origins of the front porches so common American houses to the covered porticos of classical Rome. Indeed, our word "porch" derives from the Latin portico. However, these colonnaded spaces were almost always connected to public or religious structures rather than to private homes. The loggias of Renaissance Venice, recessed front entryways built into the ground floor of Venetian canal houses, perhaps provide a better starting point for the evolution of the American-style porch. This architectural feature later became popularized throughout Europe by the 17th- century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. Eventually, English colonists would spread the loggia to the American colonies. Does the author agree with the "historians" who attribute the origins of the American front porch to the classical Roman portico?