Buildings in the Home Grounds 



II. The Garage — By Phil M. Riley 



THE newcomer in garden adjuncts is the 

 garage. It is a thing to be reckoned 

 with and as the demand for the automobile 

 becomes greater, suburban dwellers will 

 have to count more surely upon the intru- 

 sion of the garage in the scheme of the 

 home surroundings. It can be made and 

 must be, in fact, a real feature of the garden 

 plan. Because it is a newcomer, it is likely 

 to be a victim of the unfortunate tendency 

 to cast aside good old building precedents 

 and become inconsistent. 



Visible from the street, garden, or grounds 

 — and sometimes from all three — the 

 garages about us are occasionally harmoni- 

 ous features, more often abominations, and 

 very frequently not worthy of the splendid 

 machines they shelter. The trouble is 

 that the home as a whole has not been 

 treated as a picture in which no disturbing 

 element should obtrude. The garage is 

 not a "necessary evil" as so many of us 

 seem to think. It may well be welcomed 

 as a justification of the pergola, the vine- 

 clad arbor and the bordered garden path 

 and drive, all garden motives lending great 

 charm to the home grounds, yet needing a 

 destination of importance. 



Like any other outbuilding the garage 

 that lives in accord with its neighbors re- 

 flects the spirit of the house, suggesting its 

 style in some simple characteristic way. 

 There can easily be a similarity in the 

 design of windows, doors and exterior trim, 

 while similar roof and wall materials are 

 even greater harmonizers. 



In this latter respect most outbuildings 

 can follow absolutely, but the danger of 

 fire makes it desirable not only to build a 

 garage detached from both house and 

 stable but also one of fireproof construc- 

 tion. 



The prevailing rates charged for insur- 

 ing garages and automobiles emphasize the 

 fire hazard of this sort of risk. On private 

 garages containing not more then three cars 

 the rates per $100 in most localities are 25 

 cents higher for one year or 62! cents 



higher for three years than on private 

 stables of similar construction. On the 

 contents the rates are considerably higher. 

 Of course, the inexpensive underground 

 storage tanks for gasolene eliminate 

 the most serious fire cause, but the cars 

 themselves sometimes take fire from electric 

 sparks, short circuits and carelessness re- 

 garding gasolene or acetylene leaks. It 

 is bad enough to have a car burn without 

 losing the garage, but it is certainly worse 

 to have the fire that burns your neighbor's 

 house spread to your garage and devour 

 your car. With a fireproof garage a fire 

 outside does not get in and a fire inside 

 does not get out nor destroy the garage, 

 all of which is a tremendous comfort well 

 worth the extra cost. Nor can the 20 to 

 30 per cent, increase on the total cost of a 

 small garage be great. It is certainly false 

 economy to let a difference of $100 or so 

 stand in the way when the safety of a car 

 costing at least $700 is involved. For a 

 horse and carriage costing less than that a 

 roomy, substantial structure is usually 

 provided. Is there any tangible reason 

 why as much should not be spent in housing 

 an automobile safely if not commodiously? 



If your house happens to be of brick or 

 concrete, stucco or stone, with a permanent 

 roof covering, your course is obvious; use 

 the same materials for the garage. If not, 

 the materials used for the foundation, when 

 at all conspicuous, take first place, and 

 when stone is present on the site it also 

 may be used with propriety. Many of our 

 best houses utilize Colonial and Georgian 

 motives and both have always been so 

 intimately associated with brick and plaster 

 that rightly designed outbuildings of stucco, 

 concrete and brick will never seem out of 

 place near wooden Colonial houses. Stucco, 

 of course, is to be used over hollow tile, 

 and this construction, brick, or solid con- 

 crete is the best to adopt, all three being 

 commonly used. Brick is cheapest, making 

 the building cost 7 to 10 per cent, more than 

 wood frame. Stucco over hollow tile costs 



about 12! per cent, more than frame, and 

 solid concrete about 20 per cent. more. Of 

 the fireproof, permanent roof coverings, 

 asbestos shingles cost about Si 5 a square 

 (100 sq. ft.), slate $12 to $18 a square, and 

 tile $20 to $25 a square. 



Whatever the materials used, give char- 

 acter to the design. There are plenty of 

 ways to do this for little if any additional 

 cost, such as relating it definitely to the 

 house by reflection of a few of its dominant 

 architectural motives in mass and detail 

 greatly simplified. The outbuilding should 

 always be more modest than the house. 

 Too often the garage is a mere box-like 

 shelter serving only to protect the car from 

 the weather, or else on so elaborate a scale 

 in an attempt for picturesque effect as to 

 outshine the house. No adequate reason 

 exists for creating ugliness when consistent, 

 intelligent use of simple materials can pro- 

 duce such charming results. Frequently 

 a garage is to be built on the grounds of an 

 old house, but this is no justification to 

 adopt an inappropriate modern style which 

 happens to be the vogue. No appearance 

 of newness is desirable; the aim should be 

 to have the newer structure breathe the 

 spirit of the old. 



And now for the utilitarian, for the gar- 

 age must fulfill its mission. Build large 

 enough for both good looks and conven- 

 ience. You need plenty of room to walk 

 all around your car, and for a work bench, 

 storage closet, drawer space and a sink 

 with running water. If you don't build 

 quite a bit longer than your car, you'll drive 

 through the back wall some day and do a 

 lot of damage. I drive a car and I know. 

 As for the looks, keep the structure long and 

 low, avoid the cubical and by selection of 

 site or by planting, perhaps a little of both, 

 make it possible to see only attractive 

 aspects. Every side of a small outbuilding 

 cannot be attractive; screen the less de- 

 sirable sides from view, or place trees or 

 shrubs so that only a glimpse of the build- 

 ing is seen through them. Often that 



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Harmony in the style of architecture of house and garage greatly simplifies the problem of the garden picture. The whole building group can be 



located as one mass 



157 



