Problem
Buildings, and especially houses, with a graceful transition between the street and the inside, are more tranquil than those which open directly off the street.
Solution
Make a transition space between the street and the front door. Bring the path which connects street and entrance through this transition space, and mark it with a change of light, a change of sound, a change of direction, a change of surface, a change of level, perhaps by gateways which make a change of enclosure, and above all with a change of view.
Related Patterns
… whatever kind of building or building complex you are making, you have a rough position for its major entrances the gateways to the site from Main Gateways (53); the entrances to individual buildings from Family of Entrances (102), Main Entrance (110). In every case, the entrances create a transition between the “outside” - the public world - and some less public inner world. If you have Half-Hidden Garden (111) the gardens help to intensify the beauty of the transition. This pattern now elaborates and reinforces the transition which entrances and gardens generate.
Emphasize the momentary view which marks the transition by a glimpse of a distant place - Zen View (134) ; perhaps make a gateway or a simple garden gate to mark the entrance - Garden Wall (173) ; and emphasize the change of light - Tapestry of Light and Dark (135), Trellised Walk (174). The transition runs right up to the front door, up to the Entrance Room (130), and marks the beginning of the Intimacy Gradient (127) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 548.