I think the term is portcochere if I'm spelling it correctly, which I doubt. The ones I've seen tend to be on mansion-sized houses that required a place for guests to exit from (or enter) their coaches out of the weather .

Porte-Cochere. I knew I spelled it incorrectly!

That's pretty much what they are. A covering with pillars. You can dress it up or down depending on the type of pillars you use and the amount of gingerbread you use.
My only advice would be not to make it flat. Make sure it has a decent pitch to it especially if you are in snow country. I'd also make sure it was tall enough for a van to park under with some ease

The easiest way to make it blend is to repeat some of the elements of the gingerbread on your house and add it to the carport. The one probably most likely to have been used is what is on the porch area of the house tho I wouldn't limit myself to that if I had something else in mind that was really Victorian.

Our house is not a victorian, but you can see how the Porte-Cochere was integrated into the style with appropriate columns mimicing the front porch columns. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture. It's a picture of a picture. This picture was taken in 1916 as the house was being finished.

Thank you so much for the info, I'm really glad to have the proper name for the porte-cochere. Now I can do more research! Joyce, I absolutely LOVE your house. They did a really good job integrating the design of the house into the porte-cochere. How lucky you are to have an old photo of your house!

Although this 1869 "Italian villa" has a wrap around piazza instead of a porte-cochere, it may give you some ideas. You could go with a slightly pitched roof like the one on the porch, or opt for a low pitched gable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Italian style villa 1869

A lot of porte-cochere roofs I have seen in pics are flat so they could be used as balconies for second floor rooms...also, the house entry in one was often raised up to the first floor height, rather than having steps--you could step right out of the carriage onto floor level. Once cars arrived, I believe steps were used to reach the first floor.