Build a porch with a turret

Sure, you’ve thought of adding a back deck, building a porch or enclosing the patio. But have you considered a turret? With a gently rounded peak or pointed roof, a porch with a turret makes for a house with character.

“Every little thing dresses it (a porch) up a little more,” says Richard J. Wind, an architect in Rocky Point, N.Y. And if the house is a box-type Colonial or ranch, a turret boosts the design’s aesthetic.

“Porches are simple,” Wind says. But you need to stay in proportion to the house and factor in what the rest of the neighborhood’s homes look like.

Cost estimate: $5,000-$8,000.