If the trend today is to smaller houses with more efficient use of square footage, the trend in garages is just the opposite. Heated, insulated, with finished walls, higher ceilings, shiny concrete floors with drains, hot and cold running water, phone lines, cable, sound systems, and central vacs, “super garages” are all the rage. More luxurious garages exceed the square footage of most apartments, and are frequently much more livable than most housing in developing nations.
Garages have been around since suburbs became the fashion, and today serve as a barometer of financial prosperity. Early garages held one car, then two, and eventually three. Today, a four-car garage will sell a home faster than any other amenities, according to one California broker.
Garages aren't just for cars anymore. Today, storage is needed for multiple cars, trucks, SUVs, lawnmowers and equipment, tools, a workbench, bikes, jet-skis, perhaps a boat, and a host of sporting equipment. Install a dog door, and your pets have bigger accommodations than most college dorm dwellers.
Some newer developments have restrictive covenants that prohibit homeowners' cars from being parked on the street. Children stay home longer, often returning after college, or a divorce, and more space is needed for more vehicles. Thus the increased need for more garage space.
Not everyone is thrilled about the trend in larger garages. Architects and urbanists have long complained about how multi-doored garages tend to dominate a streetscape. Worse yet, they say, these doors are lifted to display a “distasteful array” of possessions that include an arsenal of cleaning supplies, auto accessories, refrigerators and freezers, bicycles hanging from the ceiling, a washer and dryer against the rear wall, enough specialized lawn care equipment to rival any landscaping company, and boxes and boxes of “obscene consumerism.”
Others complain that huge garages are eating up more and more real estate, and contributing to the problem of sprawl. “The feeling is that if a big garage is good, a bigger garage is better, and that enormous is even better than that,” according to one non-profit Washington-based agency. Some blame developers, but most agree that the real culprit is the mass media's ever-increasing focus on consumption. In other words, holiday celebrations are no good unless they are as good as Martha Stewart's, and garages are no good unless they're as big as a squash court.
In one area of Sacramento, more than half of the 1100 model homes include a three-car garage or one bigger. One Realtor reports that the last 14 homes he's sold have all had four-car garages. There is definitely an increased interest in four-car garages, which were born of the one-car garages now considered almost worthless. Microsoft's Bill Gates has a 17-car garage in his $56 million mansion. Today's trend leaves middle-income families desperate to keep up with the Gateses. |
CONTACT ME
