Question about Maine houses from someone from away

Submitted by howieinchicago t3_10d39py in Maine

So my wife and I fell in love with Maine over 20 years ago, got married there and visit at least once each year. We hope to retire in Maine someday.

One ‘strange’ thing we frequently notice about many Maine homes - and perhaps homes in New England in general. Why do many homes have no path (whether stone/brick/gravel) from the driveway or sidewalk to the front door? It’s almost as if many front doors are decorative or not intended for receiving guests? Any thoughts on the reasoning for this as this seems to be contrary to most homes we’ve seen in other regions of the country?

More of a long-time curiosity than anything. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

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-Hedonism_Bot- t1_j4jdbo1 wrote

We use the side door bub. It's right next to the driveway. Path of least resistance. Front door is only for EMS and trick-or-treaters. No path needed, for that light workout the grass is fine. Ayuh

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kathryn13 t1_j4ji1qn wrote

This answer cracked me up. I read it in the voice of a bunch of my relatives. These are pretty much the exact words they would use. Well done.

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howieinchicago OP t1_j4jdjuq wrote

Interesting. Next time I’m up I’ll buy you an Allen’s.

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IamSauerKraut t1_j4jr44e wrote

Go with the Moxie. Deliver it to the front door.

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-Hedonism_Bot- t1_j4k5wga wrote

What kind of horrible monster are you? The front door???

Seriously though, I forgot bottle drives. The kids always knock on the front door for bottle drives. What a pain. Gotta move a laz-z-boy, trip over the dog, get the draft stop and pull that sticky door open just to tell them to come 'round back. Like cmon kids, you know better.

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IamSauerKraut t1_j4lajcq wrote

As a kid, I did not know better. Same with all the Boy Scout sales. Indeed, we were told to knock on the front door because folks were more likely to buy. Never understood why but maybe all that furniture moving...

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runner64 t1_j4mcb5r wrote

UPS left a package on our front door and we just assumed porch pirates for three days until glimpsing it by accident.

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KezarLake t1_j4juz3e wrote

Nah, stay with the side door where you’ll see it.

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pocomoonshine t1_j4l3wjz wrote

And the area outside the side or rear door is called the dooryard.

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Shoegirl96 t1_j4jh5bt wrote

Winter. The front door usually opens into the living room or staircase, without a formal foyer. No where to put boots and jackets. The side or back door is usually where the mudroom is located, so a natural place to enter.

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ScenePlayful1872 t1_j4jzqfn wrote

This. Saves a lot of shoveling too. And too hard to re-train to use a different door twice a year.

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noizviolation t1_j4juowy wrote

We come in through the garage into the kitchen. The only people who knock on the front door don’t know you.

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willieandthets t1_j4jggth wrote

Lost the key to my front door years ago. It's probably been a decade since I've opened it.

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eljefino t1_j4n4rw4 wrote

My uncle opens his annually "to make sure it still works."

I think it's when he hangs his Xmas wreath.

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kittehs4eva t1_j4kwggw wrote

Front door is the trap. Anyone knocking the front door gets ignored.

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slothscantswim t1_j4jsxqf wrote

Who uses the front door? Come ‘round back, bud, we’re in the kitchen.

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ecco-domenica t1_j4ko998 wrote

It’s almost as if many front doors are decorative or not intended for receiving guests?

Bingo. I shovel a path to mine in case of fire or if anyone ever needs to get a gurney inside because I'm old and live alone. But I have a sign asking people to go to the kitchen door because I get all discombobulated if someone misinterprets the open path as some kind of invitation to knock at the front.

I grew up in the County where the front yard is the handiest place to push all the snow from the driveway if you live in town. Front door was always blocked for by a mountain of snow for 6 months a year.

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MrsMurphysChowder t1_j4kdegm wrote

If you're friend or family, ya come upta the house through the dooryahd. If you're not friend or family, go away.

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78FANGIRL t1_j4jugim wrote

In Maine, sidewalks are only in a few places in a handful of cities. Our house lots are personalized. Most houses aren't built with mud rooms or foyers, so side doors and back doors are frequently used.

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eljefino t1_j4n4y1d wrote

My unheated, screened in porch is my mud room. I think this is common, too.

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sirgoofs t1_j4kmm7o wrote

Dig around a little, there’s a path under there, it’s just grown over with grass. We ain’t used it for a while.

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Phyto72 t1_j4kgstb wrote

It isn’t just Maine, either, but most small town and rural areas in New England. We never used the front door in my parents’ house in MA except to move furniture because it led directly into the living room and stairs and there was no place to hang coats/remove wet shoes. In my current house in Maine, we actually do use the front door as the main entry, and have a gravel path directly from the driveway but it still feels a little weird to me!

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saltpinecoast t1_j4k3z9s wrote

I remember when my parents moved to Maine in 1999 people telling us that nobody in Maine uses the front door, so this is definitely a thing.

And thinking back, never at any point in my childhood or adolescence in Maine do I remember anybody ever ringing our front door bell. Delivery people, political campaigners, friends, acquaintances, plumbers, tree guys, new neighbors introducing themselves — they all come to the side door.

And my parents actually do have a path to the front door from the driveway. They even shovel it, but that's because my dad (who's now lived in Maine nearly 25 years) considers it an emergency fire escape route.

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SwvellyBents t1_j4kvlo9 wrote

We graded our driveway around to the back door to make it easier for visitors to find their way in and for unloading groceries.

I always know when it's the Jehova's Witnesses knocking, they're the only ones that go to the front door.

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Dseltzer1212 t1_j4leslv wrote

It’s Maine, you enter into the mudroom for good reason

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meshfox t1_j4lccf7 wrote

Our front door let's cold into the living room. We have no path and dogs have made it all muddy.. side door through basement keeps boots and cold away.

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Breezy207 t1_j4mqjfe wrote

Personal favorite: Maine houses with front doors but no front steps🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

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VegUltraGirl t1_j4l0swy wrote

Front door is for decor…use the side door to enter the home. My side door actually enters an entry way with a small bathroom, closet, and shoe closet. My front door enters my living room!

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GeoWannaBe t1_j4lb8zz wrote

I was always told that years ago Maine homes would be taxed an an unfinished rate if the front door steps were not completed. People just used their side doors. Perhaps years later, when the property tax laws were updated, this tax advantage no longer applied so they completed the steps but still never gave the front entry much use.

Now, I can not find any info to substantiate this on the web. Could be just local BS, but I've heard numerous people refer to this issue over the years.

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FrogThat t1_j4otsyd wrote

This is what my grandmother told me. I heard this from another person who was an older Maine resident. If the front door had no steps your land/prop tax was not as high. There are so many rural homes like this I have always felt that it may be true.

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rofopp t1_j4lqhqu wrote

Most people only the use the back door, esp during the 11 months in winter

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farmingmaine t1_j4lygjj wrote

I only shovel a path in the snow for the oil man. Side door is for all.

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blissoasis t1_j4my38t wrote

Your answer has been basically answered with all the multiple reply's. one more I'll add is that the obvious for emergency, cause the local fire dept. actually requires a certain number of doors on a house for multiple exits. and technically not suppose to be blocked.

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Yourbubblestink t1_j4n494i wrote

Mainers don’t seem to use the front doors. or try to impress people here, which is nice, but also why so many people are walking around in sweatpants at Mardens

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DistanceSuper3476 t1_j4n9rly wrote

Because you are in Maine and cant get there from here lol

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HighYella_87 t1_j4oc4us wrote

This thread helps to explain so much to my husband whom has never stepped foot in Maine. Unless you’ve lived there, you have no idea.

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MuForceShoelace t1_j50ehqi wrote

I feel like everyone answered the question correctly: the front doors are designed poorly for winter.

But that just raises another question: why the heck is there hundreds of years of building front doors wrong? Why not just make a front door coat room part of the plan?

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Majestic-Feedback541 t1_j4jksbm wrote

You know you can still walk to the door without a path right? I mean you can see the door from the driveway, do you really need directions?

My mom never had anything leading to the front steps, but she changed the house around a bit since us kids moved out, built a front porch and walkway. We used to use the side door (right next to the driveway, but she removed that and built a backdoor that leads onto a patio. (Which made way more sense because where the side door was, with stair and all, blocked a big chunk of her driveway anyways)

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howieinchicago OP t1_j4jm64o wrote

Nope, no directions needed but I understand it’s all about utility for many.

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