Why creating the front page doesn't work? I created the file named page--front.tpl.php, which is empty, in the Garland theme and set the front end to it. I still can access the front page: why?
Have you cleared the cache after you added the new template file in the theme directory? You should always clear the cache, once you change a template file for a theme already installed, or you add a new file that was not used before.