bearing in mind that I'm just a simple seaman, the photo of that 'elepahnt porch' makes sense. You board the elephant from the first floor! Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex Noel-Tod" <anoeltod@tiscali.co.uk> To: <INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 9:12 AM Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Elephant porch ? > Can anyone help with the origin of the architectural term 'elephant > porch', which was/is used to describe the entrance porch to many buildings > in the colonial style (particularly in India) ? > > A good example of an elephant porch can be seen at Doveton House in > Chennai (Madras), described on its webpage as a "stately Georgian > colonial mansion with a lofty elephant porch", see: > http://womenschristiancollege.org/doveton.htm > > Did the term derive from the fact that the columns of the porch were tall > like elephant's legs ? Or maybe because it looked like an elephant with > howdah on top , as the roof of the porch sometimes formed part of an upper > storey verandah ? Or was it because the porch appeared high enough for an > elephant to walk under ? Or, simply, just because it was large (ie > elephant sized) ...? > > My father's (unpublished) autobiography refers to the house in Madras > where he was born in 1908 as "a large house, with a spacious compound, and > the sine qua non of an 'elephant porch' ..." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.5/1314 - Release Date: > 05/03/2008 18:38 > >