Houses look so much better when the garage is hidden. (office, mansion)

[Blinx]

Originally Posted by chris410

I debated adding this picture to this thread or the ugly house thread.

My wife just sent me a link to this house telling me her girlfriend was going to look at it. My first reaction was throwing up in my mouth and then i saw the price of nearly 500k on it...

This is a GREAT example of what I think this thread is all about -- where the garage is the dominant feature of the house. It's like the priorities are out of whack. They could have designed that house with the garage still facing forward, but set back a bit, and it would have been a much prettier house.

In my little town, at least 75% of the streets have alleys, and if you are lucky enough to have off-street parking or a garage (lots of twins and rows), it's through the alley. The benefits are beautiful looking streets, since all the garbage cans and extra cars are out back. When I had my row, I was thrilled that I had ANY garage, but it was a pain carrying groceries, et al to the house. In the rain.

Now I'm thrilled to have an attached garage, and WHAT a luxury it is!! And while it DOES face front, it's set back, and only attached through a breezeway. Still plenty of house so that the whole thing really looks charming. And yes, I DO care what others think of my house and my decision to purchase it. Why would I invest so much money in something that just looks odd?

[Merc63]

I'm a car guy. I'd live in a 10 car garage with a lean-to attached to it. When I was looking for a house, my requirements were for a garage with parking and easy access to both from the street. That's what I got.

[Kerby W-R]

I wonder if garages could be built underground (the key then would be to somehow make the
driveway aesthetically pleasing). You could enter your home through the basement, utility or
mud room.

[memph]

Originally Posted by Kerby W-R

I wonder if garages could be built underground (the key then would be to somehow make the
driveway aesthetically pleasing). You could enter your home through the basement, utility or
mud room.

Like this?
Westmount, QC - Google Maps

Or a more recent example
Bois-Franc, Montreal, QC - Google Maps

Or were you thinking something more like this
Toronto, ON - Google Maps

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by eggalegga

Further, I think the risk of being attacked goes down with an attached garage vs one that's detached. That's a concern for me...not in my current neighborhood but just in general.

.

Actually the oppsite is true. Waiting in attached garages or, more commonly, running into them as the door closes is a common tactic of home invaders. The door shuts and not you are inside with the bad guy. No one to see and call police, no one to hear you scream. No place to run. From a security perspective, you are better off parking outside.

OUtsdie home invasion type things which are incredibly rare, the garage is a weak point in security. Attached garages are one the most common ways to get into a house, especially since people often leve the connecting door unlocked thinking the garage door keeps them safe.

If ou are really concerneed about safety, hire a security consultant (and no, not some saleman from an alarm company). It is actually incredibly easy to break into a house, especially a new house. So it does nto really matter what you do for securirty (except maybe a giant dog). The solution is to not make yourself a target. If you are a target, staying safe is next to impossible.

You must have an unusually wide garage, or you are parking one car in a two car garage that is otherwise empty. With standard sized garages, you cannot open a coupe with another car parked in the garage. Not even a tiny roadster like a Jensen Healey.

Sure I will bring your groceries in for you. I like being outside and I really like helping out a neighbor. Probably my favorite thing to do. However I cannot help you with your hair. I just use a brush, but i am nto real good with it. Maybe it is worth it to some to have a hideous house and not have to brush their hair, I can see that. Personally I might trade living in a hideous snout house if I cold be reieved from shaving for hte rest of my life. Well maybe not, but almost.

[Oz Train Driver]

The same problem exists here in Australia in most of the newer suburbs. Most of the houses have a double or triple garage which is wider or more prominent than the actual house itself.

The estate I live in (which is only a few years old) has 'protective covenants' to keep house & yard designs to a decent standard. One of the rules is that the garaging must not exceed a certain percentage of the building visible from the street. So far it has worked reasonably well.


The older suburbs look so much better with the driveway going down the side of the house to the garage in the back yard in my opinion.

[biscuitmom]

My neighborhood has many houses similar to this style, with lake, pond, or creek views to the rear. Personally I have no problem with the prominent front garage doors. YMMV.

[richb]

Originally Posted by biscuitmom

My neighborhood has many houses similar to this style, with lake, pond, or creek views to the rear. Personally I have no problem with the prominent front garage doors. YMMV.

Most people would likely consider the "front" of the house to be the side facing the water in the case of waterfront property. My family's cottage is like that, the good looking side faces the water not the street, though in the case of ours the trees block most of the view of the street side of the house.

[charmed59]

Originally Posted by Kerby W-R

I wonder if garages could be built underground (the key then would be to somehow make the
driveway aesthetically pleasing). You could enter your home through the basement, utility or
mud room.

Like this? The driveway wraps around the house. The three car garage is under the left side of the house. You do need a dumbwaiter to get the groceries up to the main floor.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

That sounds better than mine; my house is almost 40 feet from the street on .25 of an acre. In my opinion, a better allocation would be a small front yard like yours with all the space dedicated to the backyard.

This was like my last house. The front yard was 40' deep and the back yard only 30' deep.

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

If you mostly enter your house through your garage and not your front door, then being close enough to the street for incidental contact with your neighbors sounds much better from an urban planning perspective.

I like my neighbors (have met most of them in the almost 10 months I've been here), but I like my house being set back (I think it's 45-50'). For one, I'll be adding a big front porch to it at some point (turning a classic colonial into a farmhouse), but for another, I want a sound buffer. The further away I am from neighbors, the better, within reason (I still want to HAVE neighbors that I can see and say hello to).

Originally Posted by Shizzles

The best solution is the side garage IMHO. Much more attractive than in the front plus it removes the excuse of needing to set the house as far back from the street. I never understood our American tradition of the big front yard. No one, and I mean no one in any suburban neighborhood I've lived in has used it recreationally. Yes, it can be pretty, but it's a maintanence hassle. Put houses closer to the street and put the space in the back where people actually use it.

I like how some side garages look in some floor plans I've seen, BUT they require a really wide lot. My lot is fairly wide, but not wide enough to waste 30' or more on the side for a side entry to the garage.

Originally Posted by memph

I agree they are generally under-utilized compared to backyards, but what do you mean by recreationally? Like kids don't play there or people don't hang out with their neighbours there? Front yards were used for those purposes where I lived, especially by kids. I remember as a kid we always played in the snow piles the snow ploughs left next to the street. When I was around 6-12 years old I'd play tag, soccer, etc on front yards with neighbours all the time. In my childhood neighbourhood, there was a townhome where the neighbourhood mothers would sometimes chat and eat snacks in the front yard while watching over the kids, although this front yard was a strip of grass shared by two neighbours about 15ft wide and 30ft deep, so not very big.

Agree! When I was growing up all the kids played in front yards, not back yards. (Well, except me ... I was always in my bedroom reading. But most NORMAL kids.)

I am going to be adding flowers to my front yard this spring/summer ... my neighborhood is full of beautiful houses that are all different and many have wonderful front yards, big and small.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I think big front yards are elegant looking, but I prefer somewhat shallow front yards, 50 - 100 feet. That way you can still greet people from your porch, but it is not easy to look inside your house from the sidewalk. The front yard should be big enough to play in, the back yard sized for barbques.

Um, I don't think 50-100 feet is a "shallow" front yard. At my last house, 20-40' was the norm, and that was a pretty solidly middle-class neighborhood. Now I am in a middle-to-upper-middle-class neighborhood, and most houses are 40-50' back from the street.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

However as to the original subject I cannot think of a worse architectural blunder than the development of snout houses and "Garage with attached house."

If you really need a three or five car garage, that should be seperate and at the back of the property. IMO

My back yard is quite large (about 3/4 of an acre I think), so I guess I would have room for the garage back there, but then I would need an awfully long driveway to go back there, and I think driveways are much uglier than houses like mine (with garages set back somewhat from the house). Plus, it's hard enough plowing snow 50' in the winter here!!

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

However as to appearance, I cannot undertsand how a front facing garage can bee seen as anythign but hideous in most situtaitons. The one depicted above is less hideous than most because it is off to the side, it does not overwhelm the house or hide it.

lol, thanks for thinking that mine is at least "less hideous than most." I don't think it's hideous at all, but then again, it's mine and I love it (well, I love the house and yard more).

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

My favorite soltution are underground garages. Not sure why they do not do that more often, but probably cost. You would need doube doors at each end of the stairway to keep fumes out (or a sealed elevator, like a pnumatic).

At my last neighborhood, the house across the street was a split-level and the garage was basically underground. It flooded all the time. (But I don't think that's the kind of "underground" you meant!)

Originally Posted by chris410

I debated adding this picture to this thread or the ugly house thread.

My wife just sent me a link to this house telling me her girlfriend was going to look at it. My first reaction was throwing up in my mouth and then i saw the price of nearly 500k on it...

OK, I could never live in a house like that. If that is what most of you mean by the garage facing the front, then OK, I don't like it either. It seems WAY out of proportion. (I don't think my house is out of proportion at all, which is why maybe it works better than something like this.)