We have a two car, oversized garage. There are two separate garage doors, one for each car. This automatically gives us space between the cars. There is also plenty of room on the sides and front. At one time we had a refrigerator at the front and we still could walk around the front of the car to enter the house. There is a bump out on one side where we store bikes, lawn mower, and snow blower. Our next door neighbor has a two car garage with one door and no extra space on the sides. Huge difference.
BUT, our garage faces north, which means we have very little snow melt and lots of ice in the winter.
We have a front facing garage, which I prefer, because there is less driveway to clear of snow. Also, the macadam can absorb heat in the summer, and there is no option to plant shade trees on that side of the house. I lived in a home that was surrounded by macadam before I was married, and it really contributed to the heat in the house over the summer. So a front facing garage was okay with me.
So much thought about garages! In the house I grew up in, the garage was long and narrow. Could park the cars in one behind the other. But (a) that’s impractical and (b) the garage door weighed a TON and back then there were no motorized garage door openers . So the cars stayed in the driveway (when they finally had more than one car)… one behind the other. IT was often a case of musical cars, moving one to pull out the other.
Our current garage/driveway configuration is a little wonky b/c the original owners of the house (who built it) wanted to save this big pecan tree on the lot line, so there is a funky shaped wall on the side of the driveway. It does take a few turns to get the crossover car out, and doubtful a Chevy Tahoe or suburban could navigate these turns, but I don’t plan to ever own one of those, so no matter.
The one I sold last fall was 24.5’x28’. We had stairs to the basement on one side (also had inside basement entrance). Would do that again in a heartbeat. I would make the next garage bigger. I see so many that are labeled as 2 car garages and are far too narrow. Thanks to whomever posted the pics of McMansions upthread. I always wondered what others’ ideas of McMansions were.
I’m in the process of buying a 1900 house and I can’t figure out where/how to attach the garage. I dislike the look of older houses with garages “stuck on”. I also live in the Midwest and dislike freezing and carrying in groceries/grandchildren in snow/sleet/ice/rain. My last garage faced north on a slope and was a nightmare to clear for clients, but sometimes there isn’t much choice given the house/lot configurations.
@Nrdsb4 - I meant we could never maneuver two cars in and out of the garage unless we could use a turntable to position them. Drive down the alley, spin the car 90 degrees so it pull straight in. When leaving - back straight out, spin the car 90 degrees, head down the alley. Otherwise it would take me about a 12 point turn to avoid hitting fences, doorways, the other car, etc. Actually, I guess we’d need two turntables in the alley to accomplish this.
I just wish they would get moving on the house next door. Tearing down is done. They poured posts (they are not doing a full basement, and that is not the norm here. Suspect $ is tight. Just tired of looking at the construction garbage. (Shutting blinds…i know).
We did a full basement which is above ground on one side bc we live on a hill. So we technically have a 2 story house and a full basement. They don’t care about # of stories, but there is a height limit which is measured from the lowest point of your property. Usually limits you to 2 full stories plus a small attic.
No more garage. Was a back load on a narrow lot. In other words, lawn mower garage. So it is part of the basement. Our driveway can fit 5 cars, though we only have 2.
The house next door on the left looks like an outhouse when contrasted against the new home.
Change the zoning regulations and quick. I’m all for building your dream house, but have some taste, will ya. The lots in that area appear to be 1/4 acre-ish lots and that’s too much house for that size lot. IMO.
What a change from the old real estate adage of buying the cheapest house in an expensive neighborhood (to maximize your resale). Now people are going for the most expensive house in the cheapest neighborhood. I wonder how the people building these homes way outside the “comps” will do on resale?
If the last 30 sales in your neighborhood were <400k but you built an 800k house, would a buyer even be able to get a mortgage on it?
The flipper who bought the home next door paid $850k-900k, tore it down and is building a big place filling most of the 7,500 lot. We convinced him not to build 2 stories so he just made it 1.5 stories, so it’s taller than our house and the house on the other side.
No idea what he will be having to sell it for to make the profit he envisions. It will likely change the values for the neighborhood and increase our property taxes but it could be tough for buyer to get appraisal that will allow mortgage.
OP here…back with an update since this conversation began in early May. Four months later, now the house is REALLY TERRIBLE. It’s now been covered with red brick…4 stories high…my cousin came to visit from Texas and he’s in the construction business and he thought it was an apartment building and wondered how they got the zoning change through. I mean, LOL.
But that’s not my reason for writing today…the reason is that the couple who built it/moving in (well, one of these days…they are months away from that) have invited us out for drinks because they haven’t seen us in weeks (i run inside when I see their car drive up…yes, I’m a chicken) to “talk” and I know they want to know what people think about the house…ugh. This couple, man, they’re nice…they’re both like human-sized Labradoodles with their niceness and enthusiasm and gawds, what do I say? What I’ve been saying up until now is complimenting how great the construction crew has been… what they don’t know is that a couple of neighbors have reported them to the city for the size of the house (though the city hasn’t done anything about it).
Here’s the thing…it’s not like they’re going to knock down the house…and it’s not like they’re not going to move in…so I need to start in on acceptance.
