John and Katie Koestler stand outside in front of their home with the recently completed wrap-around porch.

A country song by Tracy Lawrence from a few years ago talked about times gone by when more people used to have porches and the value they brought to people’s lives.

The chorus of the song contained the following words.

If the world had a front porch like we did back then

We’d still have our problems but we’d all be friends

Treating your neighbor like he’s your next of kin

Wouldn’t be gone with the wind

If the world had a front porch, like we did back then.

When John and Katie Koestler looked at making improvements to their house located south of Guckeen, one of the areas they looked at replacing was an old deck that had been on the east side of the structure.

John shares that the house had been in his family for quite some time.

“My grandfather lived in this house at one time,” he comments. “I wasn’t able to work out being able to live here until a few years ago.”

In the meantime, John says there were renters that had lived in the house.

“They had damaged the siding on the house where the deck was located when they got the grill too close to it,” he mentions. “Plus, they had burned a hole in the floor of the deck.”

That was not the only problem with the previous deck.

“The deck that was here before was smaller and was not covered,” John says. “Whoever built the previous deck did not pour any footings and also did not have a good center support underneath the deck so it ended up sagging.”

Add in the fact that the cement stairs leading into the house were deteriorating and the decision to build a new porch and entrance into the house just made sense.

“It really was a safety issue with the stairs,” John remarks. “We didn’t want anybody falling and getting hurt.”

Katie reached out to a number of local contractors about designing and constructing a new porch.

“Paul Smith Construction was the only one who got back to me,” Katie says. “He worked with us and came up with a design that we liked that featured a wrap-around covered porch.”

The porch flooring is made of a composite material that does not require maintenance such as staining like wood floor would need. The porch railing is also constructed of material which is made to last and be maintenance free other than perhaps washing it when needed.

Weerts Construction did the concrete work while Paul Smith Construction built the porch, which added 940 square feet of usable outdoor space to the house. The larger portion of the porch is on the east side of the house and wraps around to the north side.

The porch is 12 feet wide which allows the couple plenty of space for the 4 foot by 12 foot cedar table that John and Katie purchased.

“The table was hand-crafted for us by Tim Lincoln of Tim’s Custom Woodworking,” Katie shares. “It is made of cedar and we love the size of it for sitting down with family and friends.”

After all, being able to entertain family and friends is one of the things they most enjoy about their porch.

“I installed an integrated sound system that I can control with my phone,” John says. “The receiver sits inside the house but I can control the volume and what we listen to from out on the porch.”

There is also a flat top griddle and a combination grill/smoker located on the east side of the porch.

“We love to cook and eat out here, whether it’s breakfast or any other meal,” John comments.

They also installed a six-foot ceiling fan and RGB lights, which are LED lights that can produce lights in any color, to enhance the time they spend on their deck.

“Since the porch is covered, it actually stays quite comfortable,” John explains. “We also found out it keeps our house cooler by keeping the sun from hitting it directly.”

While the couple share that they love to just chill on the porch and watch their four dogs, they have found the area does indeed work well to host a larger crowd of people.

In fact,the first time they brought a group of people together on their new porch was for a very special occasion.

“We are expecting our first child and we had a gender-reveal party outside on the porch,” John says.

“I am due in March,” Katie reveals with a big smile on her face. “We are having a girl.”

The couple, who were married in September of 2023, have also stayed busy with some remodeling projects inside of their house.

“We went to Armon Decorating and purchased paint and the carpet we used to redo the upstairs bedrooms,” Katie comments. “I have spent a lot of time painting.”

They also remodeled their kitchen.

“We installed new cupboards, put in a new sink, a new back splash and we moved the dishwasher,” John notes. “We also want to replace the current laminate flooring with real wood flooring.”

They have also spruced up the living room on the main floor.

It has been quite a bit to accomplish since both John and Katie are both fully employed in Blue Earth.

John owns and operates Circle K Auto Repairs while Katie works full-time at Minn-Iowa Insurance Agency and part-time at Olson Realty.

That is why the couple says it was important to work with a contractor like Paul Smith, who was someone they could trust to do the job right.

“Like I told Paul,” John concludes. “I deal with cars, you deal with the porch. You know what you’re doing.”